A Programming Model for a Forwarding Element
Jing Fu, Olof Hagsand · 2004
The architectural complexity and diversity of current network devices make them complex to manage and difficult to program. In this work, we specify a programming model for network devices that function as forwarding elements. We first identify the key packet processing functions and analyze current network devices. Next, we derive a model that consists of processing blocks to represent simple packet processing functions running on a forwarding element. We further use a processing block topology to represent how the individual packet processing functions are interconnected on the datapath. We also demonstrate how to program a forwarding element and show an example IPv4 forwarding service implementation. Finally, we evaluate programmability and the performance of the FE model.