Aurora data exchange system and method supporting virtual channel

Abstract

The invention relates to an Aurora data exchange system and method supporting a virtual channel. The system comprises N1 endpoint devices, an exchange device and an exchange control device. The endpoint equipment is interconnected with the switching equipment through an Aurora bus, and the switching control equipment is connected with the switching equipment; each end point comprises one physical port and N2 virtual ports; each virtual port comprises a data sending channel and a data receiving channel; the switching equipment comprises N3 physical ports; the switching control equipment comprises a processor; the processor is mainly used for reading and writing related registers of the switching equipment and configuring a routing table. The problems that in actual radar application, the number of ports of an Aurora multi-channel data exchange system is limited, and data of multiple frequency bands are difficult to process and forward at the same time are solved, on the basis that the number of original Aurora exchange physical ports is not increased, a virtual channel is added to each physical port, more data transmission interfaces are provided for Aurora exchange, and the data transmission efficiency of the Aurora multi-channel data exchange system is improved. And meanwhile, an internal available data exchange path also realizes exponential-level increase.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of aviation airborne integration and network communication technology, and in particular to an Aurora data exchange system and method supporting virtual channels. Background Art

[0002] The development of modern radar systems, especially the widespread application of active phased array and digital beamforming (DBF) technology, requires the radar front end to process a large amount of data. The large amount of data generated by the signal front end needs to be connected to the back-end data processing module through the switching system. In the field of airborne radar signal processing, RapidIO switching is usually used to achieve data interconnection. However, with the increase in data bandwidth, domestic RapidIO switching can no longer support port rates above 20Gbps. At the same time, it is very complicated to unload the TCP / IP protocol stack in the embedded field of 40G / 100G Ethernet. In order to achieve ultra-large bandwidth data exchange and take into account the feasibility on FPGA, Aurora is considered to be used as a data exchange bus between multiple devices in the field of airborne radar signal processing.

[0003] Conventional Aurora switches only have port-to-port data forwarding capabilities. Figure 1 As shown in the figure: when the routing table is determined, the data generated by the front-end signal processing device A can only be sent to the data processing device B through exchange. However, in actual radar applications, the signal processing device often generates data in multiple frequency bands and needs to be forwarded to multiple data processing modules at the same time. The existing Aurora multi-channel data exchange system does not have this exchange capability.

[0004] There are two design methods to solve this problem. One is to frequently switch the routing table. Multiple data channels converge on the device's sending port, and the sending port exchanges multiple data channels to multiple receiving ports through time-division multiplexing. Since the routing table needs to be frequently configured and rewritten, this method is only applicable to very small data bandwidths and cannot meet the needs of large bandwidth data exchange. Another design method is to increase the number of switching ports, provide multiple switching ports for each device, and send multiple data channels to multiple receiving ports through multiple switching ports. Since the FPGA that implements Aurora switching has limited BUFG and GT resources, when the number of devices connected to the switch is large, the port number requirement cannot be met. Summary of the invention

[0005] In actual radar applications, the existing Aurora multi-channel data exchange system has a limited number of ports and is difficult to handle the problem of simultaneous forwarding of data in multiple frequency bands. An Aurora data exchange system and method supporting virtual channels are proposed. The exchange system provides more data transmission interfaces for Aurora exchange by adding virtual channels to each physical port without increasing the number of original Aurora exchange physical ports, and the internal available data exchange paths are also increased exponentially.

[0006] The present invention mainly compares the Aurora multi-channel data exchange system, method and medium (CN 117009271 A), and proposes an Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels on this basis.

[0007] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0008] An Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels includes N1 endpoint devices, 1 switching device, and 1 switching control device; the endpoint device and the switching device are interconnected via an Aurora bus, and the switching control device is connected to the switching device;

[0009] Each endpoint of the endpoint device and the switching device includes 1 physical port and N2 virtual ports; each virtual port includes a data sending channel and a data receiving channel;

[0010] The switching control device includes a processor; the processor is mainly used to read and write relevant registers of the switching device and configure the routing table.

[0011] Furthermore, the Aurora interface logic of the endpoint device is implemented based on FPGA, and considering the usage of FPGA resources, 8 virtual ports are used.

[0012] Furthermore, the user interface of the transceiver channel usually adopts a FIFO form.

[0013] Furthermore, the Aurora interface logic of the switching device and the switching routing matrix switch logic are implemented by FPGA, and considering the usage of FPGA resources, 16 physical ports are used.

[0014] Optionally, the processor of the switching control device may use an embedded CPU or a ZYNQ series FPGA.

[0015] Optionally, the Aurora bus has a link rate of 4x10G or higher.

[0016] An Aurora data exchange method supporting virtual channels is implemented based on the Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels as described above, including an Aurora controller design supporting virtual channels and a crossbar switch matrix design for routing;

[0017] The design of the Aurora controller supporting virtual channels mainly implements multiple virtual ports sharing a physical port in a time-division multiplexing manner; the virtual port is implemented through user logic, and the specific implementation method is as follows: first, the endpoint device writes the data to be sent into different virtual port send buffers according to different destination addresses; secondly, the Aurora controller of the endpoint device interacts with the Aurora controller of the corresponding end node of the switching device through a custom protocol to obtain the margin of each virtual port receive buffer on the corresponding directly connected end node of the switching device; finally, the Aurora controller of the endpoint device controls the local virtual port to send a suitable amount of data to the corresponding switching virtual port based on the obtained margin information, ensuring that multiple virtual channels have independent flow control mechanisms and that multiple virtual channels do not affect each other; the same design method can also be used to implement the switching device writing the data to be sent in the virtual port into the receive buffer of the corresponding virtual port of the endpoint device;

[0018] The design of the routing cross-switch matrix mainly realizes the routing switching of multiple virtual ports inside the switching device; the switching strategy adopted in this design is point-to-point switching between virtual ports; the specific implementation method is as follows: first, the switching control device builds a routing table according to the user's requirements for data input and output in the entire network and sends it to the switching device; secondly, the cross-switch matrix of the switching device exchanges the data in the sending channel of each virtual port to the receiving channel buffer of the corresponding virtual port according to the routing table; finally, the cross-switch matrix monitors the update of the routing table in real time, and switches the switch matrix to change the switching relationship when there is no data transmission on the corresponding virtual port.

[0019] Optionally, the Aurora physical port PF is implemented using the Xilinx Aurora 64B66B IP core.

[0020] Furthermore, the custom protocol encapsulates a user request message and a user response message based on the Aurora protocol.

[0021] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0022] More data receiving and sending channels: Virtual ports can be regarded as port extensions of physical ports on the user side, and the upper limit of the data receiving and sending capacity of each virtual port is the same as that of the original physical port. When multiple virtual ports send and receive data at the same time, the data transmission bandwidth will be evenly distributed to each virtual port. Benefiting from the design that each virtual port is independent of each other and does not affect each other, congestion of any virtual port will not affect the normal sending and receiving of data on other virtual ports. Compared with the conventional Aurora multi-channel data exchange system, it is equivalent to adding more data receiving and sending channels for users without adding physical links or changing the hardware operating environment. Taking 1 physical port corresponding to 8 virtual ports as an example, the Aurora data exchange system that supports virtual channels has 8 times more data receiving and sending ports than the conventional Aurora multi-channel data exchange system.

[0023] More flexible interconnection. When the routing table is determined, the endpoint devices in the conventional Aurora multi-channel data exchange system can only perform one-to-one transmission. The Aurora data exchange system that supports virtual channels can achieve one-to-many transmission of endpoint devices. For example, VF1-VF8 of PF1 can be connected to PF9-PF16 respectively. At the same time, the routing table can also be changed at any time according to the user's switching strategy. When the routing table changes, taking the 16-port switching system as an example, the conventional Aurora multi-channel data exchange system can only provide 15! kinds of interconnection paths at most, while the Aurora data exchange system that supports 8 virtual channels can provide 127! kinds of interconnection paths. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 A diagram of the existing Aurora multi-channel data exchange system of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 A diagram of the Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. This embodiment is implemented based on the technical solution of the present invention, and provides a detailed implementation method and specific operation process, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0027] An Aurora data exchange system and method supporting virtual channels are as follows:

[0028] 1. System composition:

[0029] The Aurora data exchange system that supports virtual channels consists of the following components: Figure 2As shown, it includes N1 endpoint devices, 1 switching device, and 1 switching control device. The endpoint devices and the switching device are interconnected through a 4x10G Aurora bus, and the switching control device is connected to the switching device;

[0030] Each endpoint of the endpoint device and the switching device includes 1 physical port and N2 virtual ports. Each virtual port includes a data transmission channel and a data reception channel.

[0031] The user interface of the receiving and transmitting channels of the endpoint device usually adopts FIFO form. The Aurora interface logic of the endpoint device is implemented based on FPGA. Considering the usage of FPGA resources, it is recommended to use 8 virtual ports.

[0032] The switching device contains N3 physical ports. The Aurora interface logic and the switch logic of the switching routing matrix are implemented by FPGA. Considering the usage of FPGA resources, it is recommended to use 16 physical ports.

[0033] The switching control device includes a processor. The processor is mainly used to read and write the relevant registers of the switching device and configure the routing table. The processor can use an embedded CPU or a ZYNQ series FPGA.

[0034] 2. Design (implementation) method:

[0035] The core design of the Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels is divided into two parts: the first is the design of the Aurora controller supporting virtual channels, and the second is the design of the crossbar switch matrix for routing.

[0036] The design of the Aurora controller supporting virtual channels mainly implements multiple virtual ports sharing a physical port in a time-division multiplexing manner. The Aurora physical port (PF) is implemented using the Xilinx Aurora 64B66B IP core, which can implement the Aurora 64B66B protocol on a gigabit serial transceiver (GT). The virtual port is implemented through user logic, and the specific implementation method is as follows: First, the endpoint device writes the data to be sent into different virtual port send buffers according to different destination addresses; secondly, the Aurora controller of the endpoint device interacts with the Aurora controller of the corresponding end node of the switching device through a custom protocol (encapsulating a user request message and a user response message based on the Aurora protocol) to obtain the margin of each virtual port receive buffer on the corresponding direct-connected end node of the switching device; finally, the Aurora controller of the endpoint device controls the user's local virtual port to send a suitable amount of data to the corresponding switching virtual port based on the obtained margin information. Using the same design method, the switching device can also write the data to be sent in the virtual port into the receive buffer of the corresponding virtual port of the endpoint device.

[0037] The crossbar switch matrix design of routing mainly realizes the routing switching of multiple virtual ports inside the switching device. The switching strategy adopted in this design is point-to-point switching between virtual ports. The specific implementation method is as follows: First, the switching control device builds a routing table according to the user's requirements for data input and output in the entire network and sends it to the switching device; secondly, the crossbar switch matrix (Crossbar) of the switching device exchanges the data in the sending channel of each virtual port to the receiving channel buffer of the corresponding virtual port according to the routing table. Finally, the crossbar switch matrix (Crossbar) monitors the update of the routing table in real time, and switches the switch matrix to change the switching relationship when there is no data transmission in the corresponding virtual port.

[0038] The above-mentioned embodiment only expresses one implementation mode of the present invention, and its description is relatively specific and detailed, but it cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this field, several modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, which all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present invention shall be based on the attached claims.

Claims

1. An Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels, characterized in that: It includes N1 endpoint devices, 1 switching device, and 1 switching control device. The endpoint devices and the switching device are interconnected through the Aurora bus, and the switching control device is connected to the switching device. Each endpoint of the endpoint device and the switching device includes 1 physical port and N2 virtual ports; each virtual port includes a data sending channel and a data receiving channel; The switching device includes N3 physical ports; the switching control device includes a processor; the processor is mainly used to read and write relevant registers of the switching device and configure a routing table.

2. The Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to claim 1, characterized in that: The Aurora interface logic of the endpoint device is implemented based on FPGA. Considering the usage of FPGA resources, 8 virtual ports are used.

3. The Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to claim 1, characterized in that: The user interface of the transceiver channel usually adopts FIFO form.

4. The Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to claim 1, characterized in that: The Aurora interface logic of the switching device and the switching routing matrix switch logic are implemented by FPGA. Considering the usage of FPGA resources, 16 physical ports are used.

5. The Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to claim 1, characterized in that: The processor of the switching control device can use an embedded CPU or a ZYNQ series FPGA.

6. The Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to claim 1, characterized in that: The Aurora bus has a link rate of 4x10G or higher.

7. An Aurora data exchange method supporting virtual channels, characterized in that: An Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 is implemented, including an Aurora controller design supporting virtual channels and a crossbar switch matrix design for routing; The design of the Aurora controller supporting virtual channels mainly implements multiple virtual ports sharing a physical port in a time-division multiplexing manner; the virtual port is implemented through user logic, and the specific implementation method is as follows: first, the endpoint device writes the data to be sent into different virtual port send buffers according to different destination addresses; secondly, the Aurora controller of the endpoint device interacts with the Aurora controller of the corresponding end node of the switching device through a custom protocol to obtain the margin of each virtual port receive buffer on the corresponding directly connected end node of the switching device; finally, the Aurora controller of the endpoint device controls the user's local virtual port to send a suitable amount of data to the corresponding switching virtual port based on the obtained margin information, ensuring that multiple virtual channels have independent flow control mechanisms and that multiple virtual channels do not affect each other; the same design method can also be used to implement the switching device writing the data to be sent in the virtual port into the receive buffer of the corresponding virtual port of the endpoint device; The design of the routing cross-switch matrix mainly realizes the routing switching of multiple virtual ports inside the switching device; the switching strategy adopted in this design is point-to-point switching between virtual ports; the specific implementation method is as follows: first, the switching control device builds a routing table according to the user's requirements for data input and output in the entire network and sends it to the switching device; secondly, the cross-switch matrix of the switching device exchanges the data in the sending channel of each virtual port to the receiving channel buffer of the corresponding virtual port according to the routing table; finally, the cross-switch matrix monitors the update of the routing table in real time, and switches the switch matrix to change the switching relationship when there is no data transmission on the corresponding virtual port.

8. The Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to claim 7, characterized in that: The Aurora physical port PF is implemented using the Xilinx Aurora 64B66B IP core.

9. The Aurora data exchange system supporting virtual channels according to claim 7, characterized in that: The custom protocol encapsulates a user request message and a user response message based on the Aurora protocol.

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