The Experts below are selected from a list of 2145 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
John Freeman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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an industry analyst s perspective on network processors
Network Processor Design, 2003Co-Authors: John FreemanAbstract:This chapter explores network processors (NPs) from an industry perspective and looks at where they fit in the overall network silicon market. The chapter reviews the history and examines the need for ever-increasing Packet Processing performance and flexibility. The criteria for evaluating NP solutions are also presented. The chapter concludes by examining trends that can drive future evolution of network processors. It is noted that the ASIC-based switches and ASIC-accelerated routers are able to handle the Processing challenges. ASIC designers can hardwire many elements of the Packet Processing Function, leaving CPUs to handle only the least real-time operations and those Functions that require complete programmability. An NP is a programmable microprocessor that is essentially optimized for Packet Processing through certain modifications. These modifications include the basic instruction set that defines the Functions of the microprocessor, the addition of hardwired Function blocks designed to accelerate the performance of those Functions that are common across Packet Processing applications, and developing on-chip architectures that exploit parallelism and pipelining.
Bou-harb Elias - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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An Exhaustive Survey on P4 Programmable Data Plane Switches: Taxonomy, Applications, Challenges, and Future Trends
2021Co-Authors: Kfoury, Elie F., Crichigno Jorge, Bou-harb EliasAbstract:Traditionally, the data plane has been designed with fixed Functions to forward Packets using a small set of protocols. This closed-design paradigm has limited the capability of the switches to proprietary implementations which are hardcoded by vendors, inducing a lengthy, costly, and inflexible process. Recently, data plane programmability has attracted significant attention from both the research community and the industry, permitting operators and programmers in general to run customized Packet Processing Function. This open-design paradigm is paving the way for an unprecedented wave of innovation and experimentation by reducing the time of designing, testing, and adopting new protocols; enabling a customized, top-down approach to develop network applications; providing granular visibility of Packet events defined by the programmer; reducing complexity and enhancing resource utilization of the programmable switches; and drastically improving the performance of applications that are offloaded to the data plane. Despite the impressive advantages of programmable data plane switches and their importance in modern networks, the literature has been missing a comprehensive survey. To this end, this paper provides a background encompassing an overview of the evolution of networks from legacy to programmable, describing the essentials of programmable switches, and summarizing their advantages over Software-defined Networking (SDN) and legacy devices. The paper then presents a unique, comprehensive taxonomy of applications developed with P4 language; surveying, classifying, and analyzing more than 150 articles; discussing challenges and considerations; and presenting future perspectives and open research issues
Voellmy, Andreas Richard - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Programmable and Scalable Software-Defined Networking Controllers
'Yale University Library', 2014Co-Authors: Voellmy, Andreas RichardAbstract:A major recent development in computer networking is the notion of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), which allows a network to customize its behaviors through centralized policies at a conceptually centralized network controller. The SDN architecture replaces closed, vertically-integrated, and fixed-Function appliances with general-purpose Packet Processing devices, programmed through open, vendor-neutral APIs by control software executing on centralized servers. This open design exposes the capabilities of network devices and provides consumers with increased flexibility. Although several elements of the SDN architecture, notably the OpenFlow standards, have been developed, writing an SDN controller remains highly difficult. Existing programming frameworks require either explicit or restricted declarative specification of flow patterns and provide little support for maintaining consistency between controller and distributed switch state, thereby introducing a major source of complexity in SDN programming. In this dissertation, we demonstrate that it is feasible to use arguably the simplest possible programming model for centralized SDN policies, in which the programmer specifies the forwarding behavior of a network by defining a Packet-Processing Function as an ordinary algorithm in a general-purpose language. This Function, which we call an algorithmic policy, is conceptually executed on every Packet in the network and has access to centralized network and policy state. This programming model eliminates the complex and performance-critical task of generating and maintaining sets of rules on individual, distributed switches. To implement algorithmic policies efficiently, we introduce Maple, an SDN programming framework that can be embedded into any programming language with appropriate support. We have implemented Maple in both Java and Haskell, including an optimizing compiler and runtime system with three novel components. First, Maple's optimizer automatically discovers reusable forwarding decisions from a generic running control program. Specifically, the optimizer observes algorithm execution traces, organizes these traces to develop a partial decision tree for the algorithm, called a trace tree, and incrementally compiles these trace trees into optimized flow tables for distributed switches. Second, Maple introduces state dependency localization and fast repair techniques to efficiently maintain consistency between algorithmic policy and distributed flow tables. Third, Maple includes the McNettle OpenFlow network controller that efficiently executes user-defined OpenFlow event handlers written in Haskell on multicore CPUs, supporting the execution of algorithmic policies that require the central controller to process many Packets. Through efficient message Processing and enhancements to the Glasgow Haskell Compiler runtime system, McNettle network controllers can scale to handle over 20 million OpenFlow events per second on 40 CPU cores
Kfoury, Elie F. - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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An Exhaustive Survey on P4 Programmable Data Plane Switches: Taxonomy, Applications, Challenges, and Future Trends
2021Co-Authors: Kfoury, Elie F., Crichigno Jorge, Bou-harb EliasAbstract:Traditionally, the data plane has been designed with fixed Functions to forward Packets using a small set of protocols. This closed-design paradigm has limited the capability of the switches to proprietary implementations which are hardcoded by vendors, inducing a lengthy, costly, and inflexible process. Recently, data plane programmability has attracted significant attention from both the research community and the industry, permitting operators and programmers in general to run customized Packet Processing Function. This open-design paradigm is paving the way for an unprecedented wave of innovation and experimentation by reducing the time of designing, testing, and adopting new protocols; enabling a customized, top-down approach to develop network applications; providing granular visibility of Packet events defined by the programmer; reducing complexity and enhancing resource utilization of the programmable switches; and drastically improving the performance of applications that are offloaded to the data plane. Despite the impressive advantages of programmable data plane switches and their importance in modern networks, the literature has been missing a comprehensive survey. To this end, this paper provides a background encompassing an overview of the evolution of networks from legacy to programmable, describing the essentials of programmable switches, and summarizing their advantages over Software-defined Networking (SDN) and legacy devices. The paper then presents a unique, comprehensive taxonomy of applications developed with P4 language; surveying, classifying, and analyzing more than 150 articles; discussing challenges and considerations; and presenting future perspectives and open research issues
Crichigno Jorge - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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An Exhaustive Survey on P4 Programmable Data Plane Switches: Taxonomy, Applications, Challenges, and Future Trends
2021Co-Authors: Kfoury, Elie F., Crichigno Jorge, Bou-harb EliasAbstract:Traditionally, the data plane has been designed with fixed Functions to forward Packets using a small set of protocols. This closed-design paradigm has limited the capability of the switches to proprietary implementations which are hardcoded by vendors, inducing a lengthy, costly, and inflexible process. Recently, data plane programmability has attracted significant attention from both the research community and the industry, permitting operators and programmers in general to run customized Packet Processing Function. This open-design paradigm is paving the way for an unprecedented wave of innovation and experimentation by reducing the time of designing, testing, and adopting new protocols; enabling a customized, top-down approach to develop network applications; providing granular visibility of Packet events defined by the programmer; reducing complexity and enhancing resource utilization of the programmable switches; and drastically improving the performance of applications that are offloaded to the data plane. Despite the impressive advantages of programmable data plane switches and their importance in modern networks, the literature has been missing a comprehensive survey. To this end, this paper provides a background encompassing an overview of the evolution of networks from legacy to programmable, describing the essentials of programmable switches, and summarizing their advantages over Software-defined Networking (SDN) and legacy devices. The paper then presents a unique, comprehensive taxonomy of applications developed with P4 language; surveying, classifying, and analyzing more than 150 articles; discussing challenges and considerations; and presenting future perspectives and open research issues
