Storage compression algorithm for multiprotocol flow tables in software-defined satellite networks

Multiprotocol packet forwarding in software-defined satellite networks involves large flow tables and expensive storage in onboard devices. A multiprotocol flow table architecture was developed to reduce information storage using a 2-dimensional expanded-field search (2D-EFS) algorithm for the limited resources of satellite networks. The 2D-EFS algorithm generates multiple flow tables by progressively merge fields to compress storage for flow table initialization and flow entry updates. Simulations show that the storage compression efficiency for flow table initialization can reach 86%, which is close to the global optimal and which outperforms existing single-protocol algorithms. The algorithm achieves an average storage compression of 76% for flow entry updates and has the shortest run time and better overall performance than existing single- protocol algorithms.