METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING IN-SERVICE UPGRADE OF SOFTWARE IN NETWORK PROCESSOR

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide improved techniques for performing an in-service upgrade of software associated with a network or packet processor. SOLUTION: A method for performing an in-service upgrade of software in a network processor includes the following steps. A first step includes preparing for the upgrade by generating one or more write operations in order to execute an in-service upgrade from a first code version to a second code version. A second step includes updating the code from the first code version to the second code version by propagating the one or more write operations to the packet processor. A third step includes cleaning up after the updating step by reclaiming one or more memory locations available after the update step. As such, the storage of only a single version of the code in the memory associated with the packet processor is required. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT