Dynamic Resource Shadowing for Network Data-Plane Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional memory and disk caching techniques are ineffective for data-plane resources in networking equipment due to unpredictable access patterns and the massive, sparsely populated nature of these resources, leading to high latency and inefficiencies in packet processing.
Innovation Solution
Dynamic resource shadowing operations that maintain local shadow copies of data-plane resources in host CPU memory to reduce reliance on bus interconnect access, improving throughput and reducing latency by up to ten-fold.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional memory caching techniques are used for data-plane resources, then cache memory can be implemented, but access latency remains high due to unpredictable access patterns and lack of locality of reference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates shadow copies of data-plane resources (MAC address tables, FIB tables, RIB tables, ACL tables) in host CPU memory. These shadow copies are maintained synchronously with the actual data-plane resources, allowing the host CPU to access replicated data locally without waiting for bus interconnect transactions to the data-plane device, thereby reducing access latency while maintaining packet processing throughput
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the data-plane resources into individually shadowable tables (MAC address tables, FIB tables, RIB tables, ACL tables), allowing selective shadowing of specific resources based on access patterns and importance, rather than attempting to cache all data-plane resources uniformly
2Reliability
If data-plane resources are accessed synchronously over bus interconnect, then data integrity is maintained, but access latency increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates shadow copies of data-plane resources in host CPU memory, maintaining them synchronously with the actual data-plane resources. This allows the host CPU to access replicated data locally without waiting for bus interconnect transactions, reducing access latency while maintaining data integrity through synchronous updates
Solution Approach 2:
The shadow copy mechanism acts as an intermediary between the host CPU and the data-plane resources. Instead of direct bus interconnect access, the host CPU accesses the shadow copy locally, and the shadow copy is maintained synchronously with the actual resource, mediating between the need for fast access and data integrity
3Reliability
If traditional shadowing techniques are used, then backup copies can be maintained, but they do not provide performance improvement for packet processing due to lack of local caching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates shadow copies of data-plane resources in host CPU memory, maintaining them synchronously with the actual data-plane resources. This provides both redundancy for reliability and local caching for performance, unlike traditional shadowing techniques that only provide backup copies without performance improvement
Solution Approach 2:
The shadow copy mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides backup copies for reliability (traditional shadowing function) and local caching for performance improvement (caching function). This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction between reliability and access latency
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to dynamic shadow operations configured to dynamically shadow data-plane resources in a network device. In some embodiments, the dynamic resource shadow operations are used to locally maintain a shadow copy of data plane resources to avoid having to read them through a bus interconnect. In other embodiments, the dynamic shadow framework is used to provide memory protection for hardware resources against SEU failures. The dynamic shadow framework may operate in conjunction with adaptive memory scrubbing operations. In other embodiments, the dynamic shadow infrastructure is used to facilitate fast boot-up and fast upgrade operations.