Hardware Tokenizer for Network Wildcard Lookup Speed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing software-based solutions for wildcard lookups in network devices are computationally intensive and inefficient, particularly in high-speed data communication networks.
Innovation Solution
A network device equipped with a wildcard lookup table and a tokenizer that tokenizes data sequences into tokens, allowing for hardware-based wildcard lookups by searching the table based on tokens and performing actions associated with matching entries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If software-based solutions are used for wildcard lookups, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but processing speed and computational efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The data sequence is segmented into multiple tokens by the tokenizer circuitry. Each token represents a discrete unit that can be independently processed and searched in the wildcard lookup table, enabling parallel processing and faster overall lookup speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a specialized hardware structure with a wildcard lookup table and tokenizer circuitry that acts as an intermediary between the incoming data sequences and the processing logic. This hardware intermediary performs the computationally intensive tokenization and lookup operations, freeing the main processor and improving speed.
2Productivity
If hardware-based wildcard lookup is implemented, then processing speed improves, but device complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the tokenization function and wildcard lookup operation from general-purpose software processing and implements them as dedicated hardware circuitry. This extraction allows these specific functions to be performed efficiently in hardware while keeping the rest of the system simple and flexible.
Solution Approach 2:
The wildcard lookup table and tokenizer are designed to handle variable-length tokens and support multiple search patterns. The hardware structure is built to be universally applicable to different data formats and lookup requirements, making it versatile without requiring multiple specialized components.
3Adaptability or versatility
If variable token lengths are supported, then adaptability improves, but search complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tokenizer circuitry performs preliminary action by pre-processing the incoming data sequence into standardized tokens before the lookup operation. This pre-tokenization ensures that the wildcard lookup table receives uniformly formatted input, enabling efficient parallel search operations regardless of the original variable lengths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the variable-length token parameter into a fixed-format structure suitable for hardware processing. By normalizing token lengths and formats during the tokenization phase, the system maintains adaptability to different input sizes while enabling constant-time parallel search operations in the lookup table.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments herein describe tokenizing a data sequence to perform a wildcard lookup. For example, a network device (such as a NIC or a switch) can receive a data sequence (e.g., an IP address, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), domain name, etc.) which can be broken down into separate tokens. After identifying a first token, the network device can search a wildcard lookup table to determine a first entry in the table that matches the first token. Assuming there is a match, the network device can identify an action associated with the entry. If the action is to continue with the search, the network device can then retrieve a key from the entry which it then combines with a second token in the data sequence to again search the wildcard lookup table.