Paper Title: Using SmartNICs to Accelerate Network Function Virtualization (NFV)

Paper Abstract: As Telecommunication Service Providers deploy 5G networks, they prefer a cloud-native architecture because it allows them to deliver services faster and at lower cost. However, the infrastructure to support totally virtualized network functionality (NFVi) typically consists of software and requires a lot of compute-intensive resources. Without faster processing, network performance often lags. One way to improve the situation is to use SmartNICs to optimize 5G deployments. The SmartNICs improve performance and security, and offer one hardware architecture for all use cases and zero-touch automation based on the acceleration software. An example application uses Juniper Networks’ Contrail SDN software to provide a container-network interface. The interface manages the SmartNICs and exposes a hardware-accelerated virtio-net interface through Virtual Data Path Acceleration (VDPA). Management functionality comes through a standard Ethernet controller which supports most data-plane telecom applications. The result is much faster network performance in the totally virtualized environment.

Paper Author: Geetha Jayagopi, Strategic Planner, Intel
Mirek Walukiewicz, Solution Architect, Intel

Author Bio: Bio pending - will provide later

Author 2 Bio: Bio pending - will provide later