A fully scalable IP forwarding engine based on partitioned lookup table

In this paper, we present a fully scalable architecture for IP packet forwarding engines used in router line cards and other network equipment. Our conceptually sliced architecture can be replicated to increase the number of ports or deal with larger lookup tables. We show empirical evidence that, using our architecture, the expansion requires very limited glue logic and does not deteriorate the performance. Such a scalability feature is especially vital to satisfy the Internet's huge appetite for large routing tables, increased traffic, higher speed and the migration to IPv6.