基于P4的可编程数据平面研究及其应用  

Research and Applications of Programmable Data Plane Based on P4

作　　者：林耘森箫 毕军[1,2,3] 周禹[1,2,3] 张程 吴建平[1,2,3] 刘争争 张乙然[1,2,3] LIN Yun-Sen-Xiao;BI Jun;ZHOU Yu;ZHANG Cheng;WU Jian-Ping;LIU Zheng-Zheng;ZHANG Yi-Ran(Institute for Network Sciences and Cyberspace,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084;Department of Computer Science and Technology,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084;Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology(BNRist),Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084)

机构地区：[1]清华大学信息网络科学与网络空间研究院,北京100084 [2]清华大学计算机科学与技术系,北京100084 [3]清华大学北京信息科学与技术国家研究中心,北京100084

出　　处：《计算机学报》2019年第11期2539-2560,共22页Chinese Journal of Computers

基　　金：国家“十三五”重点研发计划(相当于原973项目)(2017YFB0801700);国家自然科学基金(61472213)资助~~

摘　　要：可编程协议无关报文处理(Programming Protocol-Independent Packet Processors,P4)使网络管理员能够定制交换机的数据包转发行为,提升了数据平面的可编程能力与报文处理的灵活性,从而很容易实现新功能、支持新协议,减少了开发周期与开发成本,为解决当前网络体系结构中长期存在的挑战以及设计新型数据平面功能提供了一种新的解决方案.并且,将一些原本由中间件实现的网络功能、端服务器实现的应用卸载到可编程数据平面上,还能获得可观的性能收益,提升网络与应用的整体表现.本文首先概述了可编程数据平面的发展历史与P4的研究背景.接着,本文介绍了P4语言及其架构,包括P4语言的设计目标、P4抽象转发模型、工作流程、P4语法要素.然后,本文总结了目前P4语言在语法、功能、标准规范等方面存在的问题,并将P4语言与其他数据平面编程语言进行了简要对比.之后,本文介绍了基于P4的可编程数据平面的最新研究进展,包括对异构平台的兼容、编译器的设计和优化、开发工具的设计和实现等方面.此外,本文从负载均衡、网络测量、网络安全等方面展现了学术界与工业界基于P4与可编程数据平面作出的应用成果.紧接着,本文探讨了满足什么条件的网络功能与终端应用才应该被卸载到数据平面上执行,为读者今后的研究提供参考.最后,本文探讨了未来P4研究工作的趋势与亟待解决的若干问题.Programming Protocol-Independent Packet Processors(P4)enables operators to customize the packet forwarding behavior of the switch,improving the programmability of the data plane and the flexibility of packet processing.Therefore,it is easy to support new functions and new protocols,reducing development cycles and development costs,which provides a new solution for solving long-term challenges in the current network architecture and designing new data plane functions. Moreover,offloading some of the middlebox-implemented network functions and the server-implemented applications to the programmable data plane can also obtain considerable performance gains and improve the overall performance of both the network and applications.This article is the first research survey based on the P4-based programmable data plane.The research framework of P4 is systematically proposed in this paper,which provides an important research reference for researchers in related fields.In this survey,we start with the urgent need of on-demand customizing the packet processing behavior of network devices and then outline the background of the software-defined networking,such as ForCES,4 D,RCP,SANE and so on.Then,we introduce the birth of OpenFlow and the concept of SDN,which is the pioneer of P4.Next,this paper introduces the basic knowledge of P4 language and its architecture,including the design goals of the P4 language,the P4 abstract forwarding model,the P4 workflow,and the P4 syntax elements,helping readers to lay a solid foundation.Then,this paper summarizes the problems of the current P4 language in terms of grammar,function,standard specification,etc.,and briefly compares the P4 language with other data plane programming languages.After that,this paper introduces the latest research progress of the P4-based programmable data plane,showing the current cutting-edge research in the P4 field,including compatibility with heterogeneous platforms,compiler design and optimization,design and implementation of development tools,and so on.In a

关 键 词：软件定义网络(SDN) 可编程协议无关报文处理(P4) 可编程数据平面 领域特定语言(DSL) 编译器 

分 类 号：TP393[自动化与计算机技术—计算机应用技术]