US Patent 8369345 Multi-router system having shared network interfaces

A multi-router system is described in which hardware and software components of one or more standalone routers can be partitioned into multiple logical routers. The multiple logical routers are isolated from each other in terms of routing and forwarding functions yet allow network interfaces to be shared between the logical routers. Moreover, different logical routers can share network interfaces without impacting the ability of any of the logical routers to be independently scaled to meet the bandwidth demands of the customers serviced by the logical router.