Technique for fast network device configuration upgrade and reload

A network device includes a control processor and a network processor unit (NPU) to forward network packets between network ports of the device. The processor downloads a new operating system (OS). The processor performs a fast upgrade to the new OS using a fast upgrade/reload technique to isolate t...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Meo Francesco, Mididaddi Naren, Subramanian Sharanya, Kommula Raja, Naik Chickayya
Format: Patent
Sprache:eng
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:A network device includes a control processor and a network processor unit (NPU) to forward network packets between network ports of the device. The processor downloads a new operating system (OS). The processor performs a fast upgrade to the new OS using a fast upgrade/reload technique to isolate the processor from interruptions and, without rebooting the processor, start the new OS in place of an existing OS. The fast upgrade/reload also includes delaying a reset of the NPU so that the NPU continues to route the network packets based on existing forwarding information. The fast upgrade/reload includes resetting the NPU only when the new OS first accesses the NPU, and then programming the reset NPU.