Optimizing Data Plane Programs for the Network

Abstract

With the move of Software-defined networking from fixed to programmable data planes, network functions are written with P4 or eBPF for targets such as programmable switches, CPU based flow processors and commodity CPUs. These data plane programs are, however, limited in per-packet time budget (e.g., 67.2 ns at 10GbE) and program size, making program optimization imperative. Existing approaches focus on optimizing the distribution of flow rules in fixed data planes or they are limited to a single switch. We see great potential in integrating the network topology into program optimization.

Johannes Krude, M.Sc.

Matthias Eichholz

Maximilian Winck

Klaus Wehrle

Head of Group

Mira Mezini