Introduction to P4 Language for SDN and Open Networking Ecosystem
Explore the evolution of OpenFlow, the need for adaptable SDN switches, and the emergence of P4 language for programming protocol-independent packet processors. Learn about the features of P4 language, its role in configuring packet forwarding, defining headers and fields, and providing match+action definitions. Discover how P4 language offers a higher-level interface for programming modern switch ASICs.
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Presentation Transcript
P4 (Programming Protocol- independent Packet Processors) Seyeon Jeong DPNM lab, Dept. of CSE, POSTECH jsy0906@postech.ac.kr 2016. 9. 27 SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 1/12
Introduction OpenFlow was simple A single flow rule table Matching on any of 12 fields of the incoming packet MAC addr., IP addr., Transport protocol, Over the past years Still not enough to support many encapsulation techniques Version Date # header fields OF 1.0 Dec 2009 12 (Ethernet, TCP, IPv4) OF 1.1 Feb 2011 15 (MPLS, inter-table meta data) OF 1.2 Dec 2011 36 (ARP, ICMP, IPv6, etc.) OF 1.3 Jun 2012 40 OF 1.4 Oct 2013 41 OF 1.5 Dec 2014 45 SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 2/12
Introduction OF switches must be updated to support Latest features of the newest version Difficulties in maintenance, compatibility, Where does it stop? People think that future SDN(/OpenFlow) switches must have Configurable packet parser Not tied to a specific header format (protocol)! Flexible match+action tables General packet-processing primitives SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 3/12
Introduction New generation of switch ASICs Intel FlexPipe RMT [SIGCOMM 13] Cisco Doppler But, programming these chips is hard Custom, vendor-specific interface Low-level programming like microcode We need a higher-level interface! P4 (Programming Protocol-independent Packet Processors) language + P4 compiler SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 4/12
P4 language P4 language Provides a single means of configuration to packet forwarding Based on an abstract forwarding model With a programmable parser Allows the definition of arbitrary headers and fields Provides a context for match+action definitions SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 5/12
P4 language http://p4.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/p4-tutorial-12201423.pdf SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 6/12
P4 language Header and Fields Fields have a (bitwise) width and other attributes Headers are collections of fields Like an instantiated class in Java SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 7/12
P4 language Parser Extracts header instances Selects a next state by returning another parser function SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 8/12
P4 language Match + Action table Parsed representation of headers give context for processing of the packets An action function consists of several primitive actions SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 9/12
P4 as Open Source Project https://github.com/p4lang/tutorials/tree/master/examples SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 10/12
OpenFlow + P4 http://www.slideshare.net/opennetsummit/ons2014-jennifer-rexfordprinceton-university?qid=25bb2e8d-b4fa-418e-9d7c- 90942d1d2e46&v=&b=&from_search=5 Classic OpenFlow 1.x OpenFlow 2.0 SDN Control Plane SDN Control Plane Configuring: Parser, tables, and control flow (P4 program) Populating: Installing and querying rules Installing and querying rules Parser & Table conf. Rule Translator P4 Compiler Target Switch Target Switch SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 11/12
Conclusion P4 in a nutshell An alternate future of OpenFlow 1.x Protocol independence Target independence Reconfigurability in the field Simple language Programmable parser Match + Action tables Control flow (packet processing pipeline) C-like syntax Multiple companies have written the compilers SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 12/12
Q&A SDN/NFV and Open Networking Ecosystem DPNM Lab. 13/12
