Paper Title: Writing Universal DPDK Drivers for SmartNICs

Paper Abstract: DPDK is a common base for utilizing NICs in userspace packet processing. However, SmartNICs introduce much more functionality which developers want to handle in a standardized way. Developers want a generalized view of hardware usage rather than having to include the specifics in each application. The generalized view also helps the hardware vendors target a wider customer group that often lacks the skills to create detailed software interfaces. For example, DPDK now includes a tunnel offloading API that defines capabilities generically and supports a wide range of software and hardware. OvS, a popular software switching solution, now has a version that uses the experimental API, providing a way to implement offloading easily in many common situations. Our proof of concept involves a pair of DPDK drivers for two different P4-capable SmartNICs. Using the API makes them easily interchangeable without changing the OvS software, thus achieving plug and play offloading.

Paper Author: Jan Zieleznicki, Sr Software Engineer, CodiLime

Author Bio: Jan Zieleźnicki is a Senior Software Engineer at CodiLime, where he focuses on DPDK-based data plane applications, especially integrating and extending Open vSwitch (OvS). He has worked on many SmartNIC projects, including integration with OvS and offloading application protocols via P4. He has eight years experience in designing and implementing networking solutions. He earned a Bachelor's in Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology (Poland).