Hardware Pipeline for IPsec Packet Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems that support Internet Protocol security (IPsec) face performance issues due to general-purpose CPUs being unable to generate IPsec packets quickly enough to handle high-speed data rates, leading to a need for improved processing methods.
Innovation Solution
A hardware-based pipeline is used to process packets according to the IPsec protocol, with a network device including a forwarding module to identify and append security associations and an encryption services module to perform encryption-related processing, enabling high data throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a general purpose CPU is used to convert IP packets to IPsec packets via software instructions, then the system is simple to implement, but the processing speed is insufficient for high speed communication systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the software-based CPU processing mechanism with a hardware-based pipeline mechanism. The forwarding module and encryption services module are implemented as dedicated hardware components that process IPsec packets in parallel stages, eliminating the bottleneck of software execution on general-purpose CPUs and achieving line-rate packet processing speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the IPsec packet processing function into multiple independent hardware stages within a pipeline architecture. Each stage performs a specific operation (forwarding, encryption services) and passes results to the next stage, allowing simultaneous processing of multiple packets at different pipeline stages and achieving high throughput without increasing overall system complexity.
2Productivity
If software instructions are used for IPsec packet conversion, then the device complexity is low, but the data throughput cannot maintain high speeds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes the sequential software instruction execution model with a parallel hardware pipeline model. The forwarding module identifies security associations and the encryption services module processes packets simultaneously in hardware, maintaining high data throughput while managing complexity through modular functional decomposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The hardware pipeline architecture is designed to handle multiple IPsec operations (encryption, decryption, authentication) through a universal processing framework. The forwarding module and encryption services module can process different packet types and security protocols through the same hardware infrastructure, maintaining versatility while achieving high performance.
Data Source
AI summary
A network device for processing data packets includes an encryption services module, a number of network interfaces and a forwarding module. A network interface receives a packet requiring encryption services and forwards the packet. The forwarding module receives at least a portion of the data packet, where the portion includes header information. The forwarding module identifies a security association for the data packet, appends the security association to the portion of the data packet and forwards the portion of the data packet including the security association to the encryption services module. The encryption services module processes the packet in accordance with the security association.