Patent Application
20130346814
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for testing communications networks, services, and devices, e.g., testing the traffic-handling performance and/or security of the network, network accessible devices, cloud services, and data center services.
Organizations are increasingly reliant upon the performance, security, and availability of networked applications to achieve business goals. At the same time, the growing popularity of latency-sensitive, bandwidth-heavy applications is placing heavy demands on network infrastructures. Further, cyber attackers are constantly evolving their mode of assault as they target sensitive data, financial assets, and operations. Faced with these performance demands and increasingly sophisticated security threats, network equipment providers (NEPs) and telecommunications service providers (SPs) have delivered a new generation of high-performance, content-aware network equipment and services.
Content-aware devices that leverage deep packet inspection (DPI) functionality have been around for several years, and new content-aware performance equipment is coming to market each year. However, recent high-profile performance and security failures have brought renewed focus to the importance of sufficient testing to ensure content-aware network devices can perform under real-world and peak conditions. The traditional approach of simply reacting to attacks and traffic evolution has cost organizations and governments billions. Today's sophisticated and complex high-performance network devices and the network they run on require a more comprehensive approach to testing prior to deployment than traditional testing tools are able to provide. NEPs, SPs, and other organizations require testing solutions capable of rigorously testing, simulating, and emulating realistic application workloads and security attacks at line speed. Equally important, these testing tools must be able to keep pace with emerging and more innovative products as well as thoroughly vet complex content-aware/DPI-capable functionality by emulating a myriad of application protocols and other types of content at ever-increasing speeds and feeds to ensure delivery of an outstanding quality of experience (QoE) for the customer and/or subscriber.
Network infrastructures today are typically built on IP foundations. However, measuring and managing application performance in relation to network devices remain challenges. To make matters worse, content-aware networking mandates controls for Layers 4-7 as well as the traditional Layer 2-3 attributes. Yet, to date, the bulk of the IP network testing industry has focused primarily on testing of Layers 2-3 with minimal consideration for Layers 4-7. Now with the rise of content-driven services, Layers 4-7 are increasingly strategic areas for network optimization and bulletproofing.
Even as NEPs and SPs rush to introduce newer, more sophisticated content-aware/DPI-capable devices to reap the associated business and recreational benefits these products deliver, the testing of these devices has remained stagnant. Legacy testing solutions and traditional testing practices typically focus on the IP network connection, especially routers and switches, and do not have sufficient functionality or capability to properly test this new class of devices. Nor are they aligned with content-driven approaches such as using and applying test criteria using stateful blended traffic and live security strikes at line speeds. The introduction of content-aware functionality into the network drives many new variables for testing that resist corner-case approaches and instead require realistic, randomized traffic testing at real-time speeds. The inability to test this new set of content-aware and software-driven packet inspection devices contributes to the deployment challenges and potential failure of many of them once they are deployed.
In one embodiment, a method of sending programming and debug commands, comprises loading control instructions on a processor from an attached tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium, copying the contents of a program image file by the processor from the computer-readable medium across a bus to a programmable device on the same card as the processor, signaling the programmable device to send an instruction to a configurable logic device (CLD) on the same card as the processor via a debug channel.
In another embodiment, a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media comprises instructions that, when executed on a processor, enable the processor to perform the steps comprising load control instructions on a processor from an attached tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium, copy the contents of a program image file by the processor from the computer-readable medium across a bus to the programmable device, signal the programmable device to send an instruction to a configurable logic device (CLD) via a debug channel, and copy the contents of a configuration image file from the computer-readable medium to the programmable device via the bus.
In yet another embodiment, a computing system comprises a processor programmed to perform the steps comprising load control instructions on a processor from an attached tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the processor is mounted to a card, copy the contents of a program image file by the processor from the computer-readable medium across a bus to the programmable device, wherein the programmable device is mounted to the card, signal the programmable device to send an instruction to a configurable logic device (CLD) mounted to the card via a debug channel, and copy the contents of a configuration image file from the computer-readable medium to the programmable device via the bus.
A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:
Preferred embodiments and their advantages over the prior art are best understood by reference to
Network testing system 16 may be configured to test the performance (e.g., traffic-handling performance) of devices 14, the security of a test system 18 (e.g., from security attacks), or both the performance and security of a test system 18. In some embodiments, network testing system 16 configured to simulate a realistic combination of business, recreational, malicious, and proprietary application traffic at sufficient speeds to test both performance and security together using the same data and tests. In some embodiments, network testing system 16 is configured for testing content-aware systems 18 devices 14 and/or content-unaware systems 18.
Network 12 may include any one or more networks which may be implemented as, or may be a part of, a storage area network (SAN), personal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a virtual private network (VPN), an intranet, the Internet or any other appropriate architecture or system that facilitates the communication of signals, data and/or messages (generally referred to as data) via any one or more wired and/or wireless communication links.
Devices 14 may include any type or types of network device, e.g., servers, routers, switches, gateways, firewalls, bridges, hubs, databases or data centers, workstations, desktop computers, wireless access points, wireless access devices, and/or any other type or types of devices configured to communicate with other network devices over a communications medium. Devices 14 may also include any hardware, software, and/or firmware components of any such network device, e.g., operating systems, applications, CPUs, configurable logic devices (CLDs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.
In some embodiments, network testing system 16 is configured to model and simulate network traffic. The network testing system 16 may act as virtual infrastructure and simulate traffic behavior of network devices (e.g., database server, Web server) running a specific application. The resulting network traffic originated from the network testing system 16 may drive the operation of a test system 18 for evaluating the performance and/or security of the system 18. Complex models can be built on realistic applications such that a system 18 can be tested and evaluated under realistic conditions, but in a testing environment. Simultaneously, network testing system 16 may monitor the performance and/or security of a test system 18 and may collect various metrics that measure performance and/or security characteristics of system 18.
In some embodiments, network testing system 16 comprises a hardware- and software-based testing and simulation platform that includes of a number of interconnected subsystems. These systems may be configured to operate independently or in concert to provide a full-spectrum solution for testing and verifying network performance, application and security traffic scenarios. These subsystems may be interconnected in a manner to provide high-performance, highly-accurate measurements and deep integration of functionality.
For example, as shown in
Network testing system 16 may be connected to the test system 18 in any suitable manner, e.g., according to any suitable topology or arrangement. In some embodiments or arrangements, network testing system 16 may be connected on both sides of a system 18 to be tested, e.g., to simulate both clients and servers passing traffic through the test system. In other embodiment or arrangements, network testing system 16 may be connected to any entry point to the test system 18, e.g., to act as a client to the test system 18. In some embodiment or arrangements, network testing system 16 may act in both of these modes simultaneously.
In some embodiment, network testing system 16 may be configured to simulated various components of an LTE network in order to test other components or communication links of the LTE network 18.
In the example arrangement shown in
The example arrangement shown in
In the example arrangement shown in
Each card 54 may be plugged into a backplane 56, which may include physical connections 60 for communicatively connecting cards 54 to each other, as discussed below. While cards may be interconnected, each card is treated for some purposes as an independent unit. Communications within a card are considered to be “local” communications. Two different cards attached to the same backplane may be running different versions of software so long as the versions are compatible.
Each card 54 may include any architecture 100 of hardware, software, and/or firmware components for providing the functionality of network testing system 16. For example, card 0 may include an architecture 100a, card 1 may include an architecture 100b, . . . , and card n may include an architecture 100n. The architecture 100 of each card 54 may be the same as or different than the architecture 100 of each other card 54, e.g., in terms of hardware, software, and/or firmware, and arrangement thereof.
Each architecture 100 may include a system controller, one or more network processors, and one or more CLDs connected to a management switch 110 (and any other suitable components, e.g., memory devices, communication interfaces, etc.). Cards 54 may be communicatively coupled to each other via the backplane 56 and management switches 110 of the respective cards 54, as shown in
In some embodiments, each card 54 may be configured to operate by itself, or cooperatively with one or more other cards 54, to provide any of the functionality discussed herein.
In general, controller 106 is programmed to initiate and coordinate many of the functions of network testing system 16. In some embodiments, controller 106 may be a general purpose central processing unit (CPU) such as an Intel x86 compatible part. Controller 106 may run a general-purpose multitasking or multiprocessing operating system such as a UNIX or Linux variant.
In general, network processors 105 are programmed to generate outbound network data in the form of one or more data packets and are programmed to receive and process inbound network data in the form of one or more data packets. In some embodiments, network processors 105 may be general purpose CPUs. In other embodiments, network processors 105 may be specialized CPUs with instruction sets and hardware optimized for processing network data. For example, network processors may be selected from the Netlogic XLR family of processors.
Configurable logic devices (CLDs) 102 provide high-performance, specialized computation, data transfer, and data analysis capabilities to process certain data or computation intensive tasks at or near the network line rates.
As used herein, the term configurable logic device (CLD) means a device that includes a set of programmable logic units, internal memory, and high-speed internal and external interconnections. Examples of CLDs include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) (e.g., ALTERA STRATIX family, XILINX VIRTEX family, as examples), programmable logic devices (PLDs), programmable array logic devices (PAL), and configurable programmable logic devices (CPLDs) (e.g., ALTERA MAXII, as an example). A CLD may include task-specific logic such as bus controllers, Ethernet media access controllers (MAC), and encryption/decryption modules. External interconnections on a CLD may include serial or parallel data lines or busses. External interconnections may be specialized to support a particular bus protocol or may be configurable, general-purpose I/O connections. Serial and parallel data connections may be implemented via specialized hardware or through configured logic blocks.
Memory within a configurable logic device may be arranged in various topologies. Many types of configurable logic devices include some arrangement of memory to store configuration information. In some devices, individual programmable logic units or clusters of such units may include memory blocks. In some devices, one or more larger shared banks of memory are provided that are accessible to programmable logic units via internal interconnections or busses. Some configurable logic devices may include multiple arrangements of memory.
A configurable logic device may be configured, or programmed, at different times. In some circumstances, a configurable logic device may be programmed at the time of manufacture (of the configurable logic device or of a device containing the configurable logic device). This manufacture-time programming may be performed by applying a mask to the device and energizing a light or other electromagnetic wave form to permanently or semi-permanently program the device. A configurable logic device may also be programmed electronically at manufacture time, initialization time, or dynamically. Electronic programming involves loading configuration information from a memory or over an input/output connection. Some configurable logic devices may include onboard non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory) for storing configuration information. Such an arrangement allows the configurable logic device to program itself automatically when power is applied.
As used herein, the terms processor and CPU mean general purpose computing devices with fixed instruction sets or microinstruction sets such as x86 processors (e.g., the INTEL XEON family and the AMD OPTERON family, as examples only), POWERPC processors, and other well-known processor families. The terms processor and CPU may also include graphics processing units (GPUs) (e.g., NVIDIA GEFORCE family, as an example) and network processors (NPs) (e.g, NETLOGIC XLR and family, INTEL IXP family, CAVIUM OCTEON, for example). Processors and CPUs are generally distinguished from CLDs as defined above (e.g., FPGAs, CPLDs, etc.) Some hybrid devices include blocks of configurable logic and general purpose CPU cores (e.g., XILINX VIRTEX family, as an example) and are considered CLDs for the purposes of this disclosure.
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) may be implemented as a processor or CLD as those terms are defined above depending on the particular implementation.
As used herein, the term instruction executing device means a device that executes instructions. The term instruction executing device includes a) processors and CPUs, and b) CLDs that have been programmed to implement an instruction set.
Management switch 110 allows and manages communications among the various components of testing architecture 100A, as well as communications between components of testing architecture 100A and components of one or more other cards 54 (e.g., via backplane 56 as discussed above with respect to
As discussed above, the components of example architecture 100A may be provided on a single blade 54, and multiple blades 54 may be connected together via backplane 54 to create larger systems. The various components of example architecture 100A are now discussed, according to example embodiments.
Test interfaces 101 may comprise any suitable communication interfaces for connecting architecture 100A to a test system 18 (e.g., network 12 or device 14). For example, test interfaces 101 may implement Ethernet network connectivity to a test system 18. In one embodiment, interfaces 101 may work with SFP+ modules, which allow changing the physical interface from 10 Mbps 10-BaseT twisted pair copper wiring to 10 Gbps long-range fiber. The test interfaces 101 may include one or more physical-layer devices (PHYa) and SFP+ modules. The PHYs and SFP+ modules may be configured using low-speed serial buses implemented by the capture and offload CLDs 102A (e.g., MDIO and I2C).
An CLD (Field Programmable Gate Array) is a reprogrammable device that can be modified to simulate many types of hardware. Being reprogrammable, it can be continually expanded to offer new acceleration and network analysis functionality with firmware updates. Example testing and simulation architecture 100A includes various CLDs designated to perform different functions, including two “capture and offload CLDs” 102A capturing data packets, two “router CLDs” 102B for routing data between components of architecture 100A, and a traffic generation CLD 102C for generating traffic that is delivered to the test system 18.
The capture and offload CLDs 102A have the following relationships to other components of testing and simulation architecture 100A:
1. Each capture and offload CLDs 102A is connected to one or more test interfaces 101. Thus, CLDs 102A are the first and last device in the packet-processing pipeline. In some embodiments, Ethernet MACs (Media Access Controllers) required to support 10/100/1000 and 10000 Mbps Ethernet standards are implemented within CLDs 102A and interact with the physical-layer devices (PHYs) that implement with the test interfaces 101.
2. Each capture and offload CLDs 102A is also connected to a capture memory device 103A that the CLD 102A can write to and read from. For example, each CLD 102A may write to capture memory 103 when capturing network traffic, and read from memory 103 when performing capture analysis and post-processing.
3. Each capture and offload CLDs 102A is connected to the traffic generation CLD 102C. In this capacity, the CLDs 102A is a pass-through interface; packets sent by the traffic generation CLD 102C are forwarded directly to an Ethernet test interface 101 for delivery to the test system 18
4. Each capture and offload CLDs 102A is connected to a router CLD 102B for forwarding packets to and from the NPs (105) and the controller 106.
5. Each capture and offload CLDs 102A is connected to the management switch 110 which allows for configuration of the CLD 102A and data extraction (in the case of capture memory 103) from the controller 106 or a network processor 105.
Each capture and offload CLDs 102A may be programmed to implement the following functionality for packets received from test interfaces 101. First, each capture and offload CLD 102A may capture and store a copy of each packet received from a test interface 101 in the capture memory 103 attached to CLD 102A, along with a timestamp for when that packet arrived. Simultaneously, the capture and offload CLD 102A may determine if the packet was generated originally by the traffic generation CLD 102C or some other subsystem. If CLD 102A determines that the packet was generated originally by the traffic generation CLD 102C, the CLD 102A computes receive statistics for the high-speed packet generation and measurement subsystem 22 of system 16 (e.g., refer to
Each capture and offload CLDs 102A may also be programmed to implement the following functionality for packets that it transmits to a test interface 101 for delivery to the test system 18. Packets received at a capture and offload CLD 102A from the traffic generation CLD 102C are forwarded by the CLD 102A as-is to the test interface 101 for delivery to the test system 18. Packets received at a capture and offload CLD 102A from a router CLD 102B may have instructions in the packet for specific offload operations to be performed on that packet before it is sent out trough a test interface 101. For example, packets may include instructions for any one or more of the following offload operations: (a) insert a timestamp into the packet, (b) calculate checksums for the packet on up to 2 layers of IP and TCP/UDP/ICMP headers, and/or (c) split the packet into smaller TCP segments via TCP segmentation offload. Further, a capture and offload CLD 102A may forward a copy of each packet (or particular packets) for storage in the capture memory 103B attached to the CLD 102A, along with a timestamp indicating when each packet was sent.
In addition to forwarding packets out a test interface 101, each capture and offload CLD 102A may be configured to “simulate” a packet being sent and instead of actually transmitting the packet physically on a test interface 101. This “loopback” mode may be useful for calibrating timestamp calculations for the rest of architecture 100A or system 16 by providing a fixed, known latency on network traffic. It may also be useful for debugging hardware and network configurations.
As discussed above, each capture and offload CLDs 102A may be connected to capture memory device 103A that the CLD 102A can write to and read from. Capture memory device 103A may comprise any suitable type of memory device, e.g., DRAM, SRAM, or Flash memory, hard dive, or any other memory device with sufficient bandwidth. In some embodiments, a high-speed double data rate SDRAM (e.g., DDR2 or DDR3) memory interface is provided between each capture and offload CLDs 102A and its corresponding capture memory device 103A. Thus, data may be written at near maximum-theoretical rates to maintain an accurate representation of all packets that arrived on the network, within the limits of the amount of available memory.
Router CLDs 102B may have similar flexibility as the capture and offload CLD 102A. Router CLDs 102B may implement glue logic that allows the network processors 105 and controller 106 the ability to send and receive packets on the test network interfaces 101. Each router CLD 102B may have the following relationships to other components of testing and simulation architecture 100A:
1. Each router CLD 102B is connected to a capture and offload CLD 102A, which gives it a set of “local” test interface (e.g., Ethernet interfaces) 101 with which it can send and receive packets.
2. The router CLDs 102B are also connected to each other by an interconnection 120. Thus, packets can be sent and received on “remote” test interfaces 101 via an interconnected router CLD 102B. For example, the router CLDs 102B shown on the right side of
3. A network processor 105 may connect to each router CLD 102B via two parallel interfaces 122 (e.g., two parallel interfaces 10 gigabit interfaces). These two connections may be interleaved to optimize bandwidth utilization for network traffic. For example, they may be used both for inter-processor communication (e.g., communications between network processors 105 and between controller 106 and network processors 105) and for sending traffic to and from the test interfaces 101.
4. Controller 106 also connects to each router CLD 102B. For example, controller 106 may have a single 10 gigabit connection to the each router CLD 102B, which may serve a similar purpose as the network processor connections 122. For example, they may be used both for inter-processor communication and for sending traffic to and from the test interfaces 101.
5. Each router CLD 102B may include a high-speed, low-latency SRAM memory. This memory may be used for storing routing tables, statistics, TCP reassembly offload, or other suitable data.
6. Each router CLD 102B is connected to the management switch 110, which may allow for configuration of the router CLD 102B and extraction of statistics, for example.
In some embodiments, for packets sent from a network processor 105 or controller 106, the sending processor 105, 106 first specifies a target address in a special internal header in each packet. This address may specify a test interface 101 or another processor 105, 106. The router CLD 102B may use the target address to determine where to send the packet next, e.g., it may direct the packet to the another router CLD 102B or to the nearest capture and offload CLD 102A.
For incoming packets from the test system 18 that arrive at a router CLD 102B, more processing may be required, because the target address header is absent for packets that have arrived from the test system 18. In some embodiments, the following post-processing is performed by a router CLD 102B for each incoming packet from the test system 18:
1. The router CLD 102B parses the packet is parsed to determine the VLAN tag and destination IP address of the packet.
2. The router CLD 102B consults a programmable table of IP addresses (e.g., implemented using memory built-in to the CLD 102B) to determine the address of the target processor 105, 106. This contents of this table may be managed by software of controller 106.
3. The router CLD 102B computes a hash function on the source and destination IP addresses and port numbers of the packet.
4. The router CLD 102B inserts a 32-bit hash value into the packet (along with any latency, checksum status, or other offload information inserted by the respective offload and capture CLD 102A).
5. The router CLD 102B then uses the hash value to determine the optimal physical connection to use for a particular processor address (because a network processor 105 has two physical connections 122, as shown in
6. If the packet is not IP, has no matching VLAN, or has no other specific routing information, the router CLD 102B consults a series of “default” processor addresses in an auxiliary table (e.g., implemented using memory built-in to the CLD 102B).
In some embodiments, the router CLD 102B also implements TCP reassembly offloads and extra receive buffering using attached memory (e.g., attached SRAM memory). Further, it can be repurposed for any other suitable functions, e.g., for statistics collection by network processor 105.
Each network processor (NP) 105 may be a general purpose CPU with multiple cores, security, and network acceleration engines. In some embodiments, each network processor 105 may be an off-the-shelf processor designed for network performance. However, it may be very flexible, and may be suitable to perform tasks ranging from low-level, high-speed packet generation to application and user-level simulation. Each network processor 105 may have the following relationships to other components of testing and simulation architecture 100A:
1. Each network processor 105 may be connected to a router CLD 102B. The router CLD 102B may provide the glue logic that allows the processor 105 to send and receive network traffic to the rest of the system and out the test interfaces 101 to the test system 18.
2. Each network processor 105 may be also connected to the management switch 110. In embodiments in which the network processor 105 has no local storage (e.g. a disk drive), it may load its operating system and applications from the controller 106 via the management network. As used herein, the “management network” includes management switch 110, CLDs 102A, 102B, and 102C, backplane 56, and controller 106.
3. Because the CLDs 102 are all connected to the management switch 110, the network processors 105 may be responsible for managing and configuring certain aspects of the router CLDs 102B and offload and capture CLDs 102A.
In some embodiments, each network processor 105 may also have the following high-level responsibilities:
1. The primary TCP/IP stack used for network traffic simulation executes on the network processor 105.
2. IP and Ethernet-layer address allocation and routing protocols are handled by the network processor 105.
3. User and application-layer simulation also run on the network processor 105.
4. The network processor 105 works with software on the controller 106 to collect statistics, which may subsequently be used by the statistics and reporting engine 162 of subsystem 28.
5. The network processor 105 may also collect statistics from CLDs 102A, 102B, and 102C and report them to the controller 106. In an alternative embodiment, the controller 106 itself is configured to collect statistics directly from CLDs 102A, 102B, and 102C.
Controller 106 may compare any suitable controller programmed to control various functions of system architecture 100A. In some embodiments, controller 106 may be a general purpose CPU with multiple cores, with some network but no security acceleration. For example, controller 106 may be an off-the-shelf processor designed primarily for calculations and database performance. However, it can also be used for other tasks in the system 100A, and can even be used as an auxiliary network processor due to the manner in which it is connected to the system. Controller 106 may have the following relationships to other components of testing and simulation architecture 100A:
1. Controller 106 manages a connection with a removable disk storage device 109 (or other suitable memory device).
2. Controller 106 may connect to the management switch 110 to configure, boot, and manage all other processors 105 and CLDs 102 in the system 100A.
3. Controller 106 is connected to each router CLD 102B for the purpose of high-speed inter-processor communication with network processors 105 (e.g., to provide a 10 Gbps low-latency connection to the network processors 105 in addition to the 1 Gbps connection provided via the management switch 110), as well as generating network traffic via test interfaces 101.
Controller 106 may be the only processor connected directly to the removable disk storage 109. In some embodiments, all firmware or software used by the rest of the system 100A, except for firmware required to start the controller 106 itself (BIOS) resides on the disk drive 109. A freshly manufactured system 100A can self-program all other system components from the controller 106.
In some embodiments, controller 106 may also have the following high-level responsibilities:
1. Controller 106 serves the user-interface (web-based) used for managing the system 100A.
2. Controller 106 runs the middle-ware and server applications that coordinates the rest of the system operation.
3. Controller 106 serves the operating system and application files used by network processors 105.
4. Controller 106 hosts the database, statistics and reporting engine 162 of statistics collection and reporting subsystem 28.
The of the traffic generation CLD 102C is to generate traffic at line-rate. In some embodiment, traffic generation CLD 102C is configured to generate layer 2/layer 3 traffic; thus, traffic generation CLD 102C may be referred to as an L2/L3 traffic CLD.
In an example embodiment, traffic generation CLD 102C is capable of generating packets at 10 Gbps, using a small packet size (e.g., the smallest possible packet size), for the four test interfaces 101 simultaneously, or 59,523,809 packets per second. In some embodiments, this functionality may additionally or alternatively be integrated into each capture and offload CLD 102A. Traffic generation CLD 102C may have the following relationship to other components of testing and simulation architecture 100A:
1. Traffic generation CLD 102C is connected to capture and offload CLDs 102A. For example, traffic generation CLD 102C may be connected to capture and offload CLDs 102A via two 20 Gbps bi-directional links. Traffic generation CLD 102C typically only sends traffic, but is may also be capable of receiving traffic or other data.
2. Traffic generation CLD 102C is connected to the management switch 110 which allows for configuration of CLD 102C for generating traffic. Controller 106 may be programmed to configure traffic generation CLD 102C, via management switch 110.
Like other CLDs, traffic generation CLD 102C is reconfigurable and thus may be reconfigured to provide other functions as desired.
A buffer/reassembly memory device 103B may be coupled to each router CLDs 102B. Each memory device 103B may comprise any suitable memory device. For example, each memory device 103B may comprise high-speed, low-latency QDR (quad data rate) SRAM memory attached to the corresponding router CLD 103B for various offload purposes, e.g., statistics collection, packet buffering, TCP reassembly offload, etc.
A suitable memory device 109 may be coupled to controller 106. For example, memory device 109 may comprise a removable, solid-state drive (SSD) in a custom carrier that allows hot-swapping and facilitates changing software or database contents on an installed board. Disk drive 109 may store various data, including for example:
1. Firmware that configures the CLDs 102 and various perhipherals;
2. An operating system, applications, and statistics and reporting database utilized by the controller 106; and
3. An operating system and applications used by each network processor 105.
The management switch 110 connects to every CLD 102, network processor 105, and control CPU 106 in the system 100A. In some embodiments, management switch 110 comprises a management Ethernet switch configured to allow communication of for 1-10 Gbit traffic both between blades 54 and between the various processors 105, 106 and CLDs 102 on each particular blade 54. Management switch 110 may route packets based on the MAC address included in each packet passing through switch 110. Thus, management switch 110 may essentially act as a router, allowing control CPUs 106 to communication with network processor 105 and CLD 102 on the same card 54 and other cards 54 in the system 16. In such embodiment, all subsystems are controllable via Ethernet, such that additional processors and CLDs may be added by simply chaining management switches 110 together.
In an alternative embodiment, control CPU 106 of different cards 54 may be connected in any other suitable manner, e.g., by a local bus or PCI, for example. However, in some instances, Ethernet connectivity may provide certain advantages over a local bus or PCI, e.g., Ethernet may facilitate more types of communication between more types of devices than a local bus or PCI.
Network testing system 16 may be configured to support any suitable number of cards or blades 54. In one embodiment, system 16 is configured to support between 1 and 14 cards 54 in a single chassis 50. Backplane 56 may provide a system for interconnecting the management Ethernet provided by the management switches 110 of multiple cards 54, as well as system monitoring connections for measuring voltages and temperatures on cards 54, and for debugging and monitoring CPU status on all cards 54, for example. Backplane 56 may also distribute clock signals between all cards 54 in a chassis 50 so that the time stamps for all CPUs and CLDs remain synchronized.
In some embodiments, network testing system 16 may provide an integrated solution that provides some or all of the following functions: (1) high-speed, high-resolution network packet capture, (2) high-speed packet generation and measurement, (3) application-level simulation and measurement, (4) security and exploit simulation and analysis, and (5) statistics collection and reporting. Thus, as discussed above with respect to
Modern digital networks involve two or more or nodes that send data between each other over a shared, physical connection using units of data called packets. Packets contain information about the source and destination address of the nodes, application information. A network packet capture is the observing and storage of packets on the network for later debugging and analysis.
Network packet capture may be performed for various reasons, e.g., lawful intercept (tapping), performance analysis, and application debugging, for example. Packet capture devices can range in complexity from a simple desktop PC (most PCs have limited capture abilities built into their networking hardware) to expensive purpose-built hardware. These devices vary in both their capacity and accuracy. A limited capture system is typically unable to capture all types of network packets, or sustain capture at the maximum speed of the network.
In contrast, network packet capture subsystem 20 of network testing system 16 may provide high-speed, high-resolution network packet capture capable of capturing all types of network packets (e.g., Ethernet, TCP, UDP, ICMP, IGMP, etc.) at the maximum speed of the tested system 18 (e.g., 4.88 million packets per second, transmit and receive, per test interface).
(a) One or more physical Ethernet test interface (PHY) 101.
(b) An Ethernet MAC (Media Access Controller) 130 implemented inside CLD 102A per physical interface 101 which can be programmed to enter “promiscuous mode,” in which the Ethernet MAC can be instructed to snoop all network packets, even those not addressed for it. Normally, an Ethernet MAC will only see packets on a network that include its local MAC Address, or that are addressed for “broadcast” or “multicast” groups. A MAC Address may be a 6-byte Ethernet media access control address. A capture system should be able to see all packets on the network, even those that are not broadcast, multicast, or addressed with the MAC's local MAC address. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to enter a super-promiscuous mode in order to receive even “erroneous” packets. Typical Ethernet MACs will drop malformed or erroneous packets even if in promiscuous mode on the assumption that a malformed or erroneous packet is likely damaged and the sender should resend a correct packet if the message is important. These packets may be of interest in a network testing device such as system 16 to identify and diagnose problem connections, equipment, or software. Thus, the Ethernet MAC of CLD 102A may be configured to enter super-promiscuous mode in order to see and capture all packets on the network, even including “erroneous” packets (e.g., corrupted packets as defined by Ethernet FCS at end of a packet).
(c) A capture and offload CLD 102A.
(d) Capture memory 103A connected to CLD 102A.
(e) Controller software 132 of controller 106 configured to start, stop and post-process packet captures.
(f) A management processor 134 of controller 106 configured to execute the controller software 132.
(g) Management switch 110 configured to interface and control the capture and offload CLD 102A from the management processor 134.
An example network packet capture process is now described. When the packet capture feature is enabled by a user via the user interface provided by the system 100A (see
Using the architecture discussed herein, system 16 can store packets sent and received at a rate equivalent to the maximum rate possible on the network. Thus, as long as there is sufficient memory 103A attached to the CLD 102A, a 100% accurate record of the traffic that occurred on test system 18 may be recorded. If memory 103A fills up, a wrapping mechanism of CLD 102A allows CLD 102A to begin overwriting the oldest packets in memory with newer packets.
To achieve optimal efficiency, CLD 102A may store packets in memory in their actual length and may use a linked-list data structure to determine where the next packet begins. Alternatively, CLD 102A may assume all packets are a fixed size. While this alternative is computationally efficient (a given packet can be found in memory by simply multiplying by a fixed value), memory space may be wasted when packets captured on the network are smaller than the assumed size.
CLD 102A may also provide a tail pointer that can be used to walk backward in the list of packets to find the first captured packet. Once the first captured packet is located, the control software 132 can read the capture memory 103A and generate a diagnostic file, called a PCAP (Packet CAPture) file, which can be sent to the user and/or stored in disk 109. This file may be downloaded and analyzed by a user using a third-party tool.
Because there can be millions of packets in the capture memory 103A, walking through all of the packets in the packet capture to located the first captured packet based on the tail pointer may take considerable time. Thus, CLD 102A may provide a hardware-implementation that walks the linked list and can provide the head pointer directly. In addition, copying the capture memory 103A to a file that is usable for analysis can take additional time. Thus, CLD 102A may implement a bulk-memory-copy mode that speeds up this process.
At step 208, CLD 102A may rewind capture memory 103A, e.g., using tail pointers as discussed above, or using any other suitable technique. At step 210, controller 106 may read dta from capture memory 103A and write to disk 109, e.g., in the form of a PCAP (Packet CAPture) file as discussed above, which file may then be downloaded and analyzed using third-party tools.
Table 1 provides a comparison of the performance of network packet capture subsystem 20 to certain conventional solutions, according to an example embodiment of system 16.
In some embodiments, dedicated packet capture memory and hardware may be omitted, e.g., for design simplicity, cost, etc. In such embodiments, a software-only implementation of packet capture may instead be provided, although such implementation may have reduced performance as compared with the dedicated packet capture memory and hardware subsystem discussed above.
Modern networks can transport packets at a tremendous rate. A comparison of various network speeds and the maximum packets/second that they can provide is set forth in Table 2.
The data rate for the fastest network of a given era typically exceeds the number of packets/second that a single node on the network can practically generate. Thus, to test the network at its maximum-possible packet rate, one might need to employ either many separate machines, or a custom solution dedicated to generating and receiving packets at the highest possible rate.
As discussed above, network testing system 16 may include a high-speed packet generation and measurement subsystem 22 for providing packet generation and measurement at line rate.
(a) One or more physical Ethernet test interface (PHY) 101.
(b) An Ethernet MAC (Media Access Controller) 130 on capture and offload CLD 102A per physical interface 101.
(c) An L2/L3 traffic generation CLD 102C configured to generate packets to be sent to the Ethernet MAC 130.
(d) A capture and offload CLD 102A configured to analyze packets coming from the Ethernet MAC 130.
(e) Controller software 132 of controller 106 configured to generate different types of network traffic.
(f) Controller software 132 of controller 106 configured to manage network resources, allowing the CLD-generated traffic to co-exist with the traffic generated by other subsystems, at the same time.
(g) A management processor 134 of controller 106 configured to execute the controller software 132.
The CLD solution provided by subsystem 22 is capable of sending traffic and analyzing traffic at the maximum packet rate for 10 Gbps Ethernet, which may be difficult for even a high-end PC. Additionally, subsystem 22 can provide diagnostic information at the end of each packet it sends. This diagnostic information may include, for example:
1. a checksum (e.g., CRC32, for verifying packet integrity);
2. a sequence number (for determining if packets were reordered on the network);
3. a timestamp (for determining how long the packet took to traverse the network); and/or
4. a signature (for uniquely distinguishing generated traffic from other types of traffic).
The checksum may be placed at the end of each packet. This checksum covers a variable amount of the packet, because as a packet traverses the network, it may be expected to change in various places (e.g., the time-to-live field, or the IP addresses). The checksum allows verification that a packet has not changed in unexpected ways or been corrupted in-transit. In some embodiments, the checksum is a 32-bit CRC checksum, which is more reliably able to detect certain types of corruption that the standard 16-bit 2's complement TCP/IP checksums.
The sequence number may allow detection of packet ordering even if the network packets do not normally have a method of detecting the sequence number. This sequence number may be 32-bit, which wraps less quickly on a high-speed network as compared to other standardized packet identifiers, e.g., the 16-bit IP ID.
The timestamp may have any suitable resolution. For example, the timestamp may have a 10 nanosecond resolution, which is fine-grained enough to measure the difference in latency between a packet traveling through a 1 meter and a 20 meter optical cable (effectively measuring the speed of light.)
The signature field may allows the CLD 102A to accurately identify packets that need analysis from other network traffic, without relying on the simulated packets having any other identifiable characteristics. This signature also allows subsystem 22 to operate without interfering with other subsystems while sharing the same test interfaces 101.
While high-speed packet generation and analysis can be used to illustrate raw network capacity, integrity and latency, modern networks also analyze traffic beyond individual packets and instead look at application flows. This is known as deep packet inspection. Also, it is often desired to measure performance of not only the network itself but individual devices, such as routers, firewalls, load balancers, servers, and intrusion detection and prevention systems, for example.
To properly exercise these systems, higher-level application data is sent on top of the network. Network testing system 16 may include an application-level simulation and measurement subsystem 24 to provide such functionality.
(a) One or more physical Ethernet test interface (PHY) 101.
(b) An Ethernet MAC (Media Access Controller) 130 capture and offload CLD 102A per physical interface 101.
(c) Multiple network processors 105 configured to generate and analyze high-level application traffic.
(d) Multiple capture and offload CLDs 102A and router CLDs 102B configured to route traffic between the Ethernet MACs 130 and the network processors 105 and to perform packet acceleration offload tasks.
(e) Software 142 of network processor 105 configured to generate application traffic and generate statistics.
(f) Controller software 132 of controller 106 to manage network resources, allowing the network processor-generated application traffic to co-exist with the traffic generated by other subsystems, at the same time.
(g) A management processor 134 on controller 106 configured to execute the controller software 132.
Application-Level Simulation: Upper Layer
In some embodiments, the network processors 105 execute software 142 that implements both the networking stack (Ethernet, TCP/IP, routing protocols, etc.) and the application stack that is typically present on a network device. In this sense, the software 142 can simulate network clients (e.g., Desktop PCs), servers, routers, and a whole host of different applications. This programmable “application engine” software 142 is given instructions on how to properly simulate a particular network or application by an additional software layer. This software layer may provide information such as:
1. Addresses and types of hosts to simulate on the network,
2. Addresses and types of hosts to target on the network,
3. Types of applications to simulate, and/or
4. Details on how to simulate a particular application (mid-level instructions for application interaction).
The details on how to simulate applications reside in software 144 that runs on the management processor 134 on controller 106. A user can model an application behavior in a user interface (see, e.g.,
Application-Level Simulation: Lower Layer
Physically, the network processors 105 connect to multiple CLDs 102. All packets that leave the network processor 105 first pass through one or more CLDs 102 before they are sent to the Ethernet interfaces 101, and all packets that arrive via the Ethernet interfaces 101 pass through one or more CLDs 102 before they are forwarded to a network processor 105. The CLDs 102 are thus post- and pre-processors for all network processor traffic. In addition, the packet capture functionality provided by subsystem 20 (discussed above) is able to capture all network processor-generated traffic.
The CLDs 102A and 102B may be configured to provide some or all of the following additional functions:
1. Programmable timestamp insertion and measurement (by CLD 102A),
2. TCP/IP Checksum offload (by CLD 102A),
3. TCP segmentation offload (by CLD 102A), and/or
4. Incoming packet routing and load-balancing, to support multiple network processors using the same physical interface (by CLD 102B).
For timestamp insertion, a network processor 105 can request that the CLD 102A insert a timestamp into a packet originally generated by the network processor 105 before it enters the Ethernet. The CLD 102A can also supply a timestamp for when a packet arrives before it is forwarded to a network processor 105. This is useful for measuring high-resolution, accurate packet latency in a way typically only available to a simple packet generator on packets containing realistic application traffic. Unlike conventional off-the-shelf hardware that can insert and capture timestamps, CLD 102A is configured to insert a timestamp into any type of packet, including any kind of packets, e.g., PTP, IP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, or Ethernet-layer packets, instead of only PTP (Precision Time Protocol) packets as part fo the IEEE 1588 standard.
TCP/IP checksum offload may also be performed by the CLDs 102A. Unlike a typical hardware offload implemented by an off-the-shelf Ethernet controller, the CLD implementation of system 16 has an additional feature in that any packet can have multiple TCP/IP checksums computed by CLD 102A on more than one header layer in the packet. This may be especially useful when generating packets that are tunneled, and thus have multiple TCP, IP or UDP checksums. Conventional solutions cannot perform a checksum on more than one header layer in a packet.
For TCP segmentation offload, a single large TCP packet can automatically be broken into smaller packets by CLD 102A to fit the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the network. TCP segmentation offload can save a great deal of CPU time when sending data at high speeds. Conventional solutions are typically implemented without restrictions, such as all offloaded TCP segments will have the same timestamp. In contrast, the CLD implementation of system 16 allows timestamping of individual offloaded TCP segments as if they had been sent individually by the network processor 105.
Incoming packet routing and load balancing enable multiple network processors 105 to be used efficiently in a single system. Conventional load-balancing systems rely on some characteristic of each incoming packet to be unique, such as the IP or Ethernet address. In the event that the configured attributes for incoming packets are not unique, a system can make inefficient use of multiple processors, e.g., all traffic goes to one processor rather than being fairly distributed. In contrast, the CLD 102B implementation of packet routing in system 16 provides certain features not typically available in commodity packet distribution systems such as TCAMs or layer-3 Ethernet switches. For example, the CLD 102B implementation of system 16 may provide any one or more of the following features:
1. The CLD implementation of system 16 can be reconfigured to parse packets two headers deep. If all traffic has a single outer header, e.g., tunneled traffic, the system can look further to find unique identifiers in the packets.
2. The system 16 may employ a hardware implementation of jhash (a hashing algorithm designed by Bob Jenkens, available at http://burtleburtle.net/bob/c/lookup3.c) to distribute packets, which is harder to defeat than other common implementation such as CRC and efficiently distributes packets that differ by very few bits.
3. Packets can be routed on thousands of arbitrary IP ranges as well using a lookup table built into the CLDs 102B.
At step 246, the simulation finishes. Thus, at step 248, the network processor 105 stops simulation, and controller 106 stops data collection regarding the simulation. At step 250, the reporting engine 162 on controller 106 may generate reports based on data collected and stored at step 244.
In both isolated networks and the public Internet, vulnerable users, applications and networks continue to be exploited in the form of malware (virus, worms), denial of service (DoS), distributed denial of service (DDoS), social engineering, and other forms of attack. Network testing system 16 may be configured to generate and deliver malicious traffic to a test system 18 at the same time that it generates and delivers normal “background” traffic to test system 18. In particular, security and exploit simulation and analysis subsystem 26 of system 16 may be configured to generate such malicious traffic. This may be useful for testing test system 18 according to various scenarios, such as for example:
1. “Needle in a haystack” or lawful intercept testing (i.e., locating bad traffic among good traffic),
2. Testing the effectiveness of intrusion prevention/detection mechanisms, and/or
3. Testing the effectiveness of intrusion prevention/detection mechanisms under load.
(a) One or more physical Ethernet test interface (PHY) 101.
(b) An Ethernet MAC (Media Access Controller) 130 implemented in CLD 102A (see
(c) Multiple network processors 105 configured to generate and analyze high-level application traffic.
(d) Multiple capture and offload CLDs 102A and router CLDs 102B configured to route traffic between the Ethernet MACs 130 and the network processors 105 and to perform packet acceleration offload tasks.
(e) A “security engine” 150 comprising software 150 configured to generate malicious application traffic and to verify its effectiveness. Security engine 150 may be provided on a network processor 105 and/or controller 106, and is thus indicated by dashed lines in
(f) Controller software 132 of controller 106 to manage network resources, allowing the malicious application traffic to co-exist with the traffic generated by other subsystems, at the same time.
(g) A management processor 134 on controller 106 configured to execute the controller software 132, collect and store statistics, and/or generate malicious application traffic.
As mentioned above, security engine 150 may be provided on a network processor 105 and/or controller 106. For example, in some scenarios, the application engine 142 employed by the network processor 105 is used to generate malicious traffic when high-performance is required. In other scenarios, the management processor 134 of controller 106 can generate malicious traffic packet-by-packet and forward these to the network processor 105 as if they were generated locally. This mechanism may be employed for more sophisticated attacks that do not require high performance.
At step 266, the simulation finishes. Thus, at step 268, security engine 150 stops simulation, and controller 106 stops data collection regarding the simulation. At step 270, the reporting engine 162 on controller 106 may generate reports based on data collected and stored at step 264.
The management processor 134 of controller 106, in addition to providing a place for much of the control software for various subsystems to execute, may also host a statistics database 160 and reporting engine 162. Statistics database 162 both stores raw data generated by other subsystems as well as derives its own data. For instance, subsystem 20 or 22 may report the number and size of packets generated on a network over time. Statistics database 160 can then compute the minimum, maximum, average, standard deviation, and/or other statistical data regarding the data rate from these two pieces of data. Reporting engine 162 may comprise additional software configured to convert statistics into reports including both data analysis and display of the data in an user-readable format.
1. A statistics database 160.
2. A storage device 109 to store data collected by other sub-components (e.g. a solid-state flash drive).
3. A data collection engine 164 configured to converts raw data from sub-components into a normalized form for the database 160.
4. A reporting engine 162 configured to allow analyzing and viewing data both in real-time and offline.
5. A management processor 134 configured to run the database 160 and software engines 162 and 164.
Reporting engine 162 and data collection engine 164 may comprise software-based modules stored in memory associated with controller 106 (e.g., stored in disk 109) and executed by management processor 134.
In the control and management layer, example applications are shown including network resiliency, data center resiliency, lawful intercept, scenario editor, and 4G/LTE. Network and data center resiliency applications may provide an automated, standardized, and deterministic method for evaluating and ensuring the resiliency of networks, network equipment, and data centers. System 16 provides a standard measurement approach using a battery of real-world application traffic, real-time security attacks, extreme user load, and application fuzzing. That battery may include a blended mix of application traffic and malicious attacks, including obfuscations.
Lawful intercept applications may test the capabilities of law enforcement systems to process realistic network traffic scenarios. These applications may simulate the real-world application traffic that lawful intercept systems must process—including major Web mail, P2P, VoIP, and other communication protocols—as well as triggering content in multiple languages. These applications may create needle-in-a-haystack scenarios by embedding keywords to ensure that a lawful intercept solution under test detects the appropriate triggers; tax the performance of tested equipment with a blend of application, attack, and malformed traffic at line rate; and emulate an environment's unique background traffic by selecting from more than tens of application protocols, e.g., SKYPE, VoIP, email, and various instant messaging protocols.
The scenario editor application may allow modification of existing testing scenarios or the creation of new scenarios using a rules-based interface. The scenario editor application may also enable configuration of scenarios based on custom program logic installed on system 16.
The 4G/LTE application may allow testing and validation of mobile networking equipment and systems including mobile-specific services like mobile-specific web connections, mobile device application stores, and other connections over modern wireless channels. These applications may create city-scale mobile data simulations to test the resiliency of mobile networks under realistic application and security traffic. Tests may measure mobility infrastructure performance and security under extreme network traffic conditions; stress test key LTE network components with emulation of millions of user devices and thousands of transmission nodes; and validate per-device accounting, billing, and policy mechanisms.
Tcl scripting modules may allow web-based user interface design and configuration of existing and user-created applications. Reporting modules may allow generation of standardized reports on test results, traffic analysis, and ongoing monitoring data.
Supporting those applications is the unified control and test automation subsystem including two software modules, Tcl scripting and reporting, and three hardware modules, security attacks, protocol fuzzing, and application protocols. The latter three modules comprise the application and threat intelligence program. Underlying the applications are three hardware layers including security accelerators, network processors, and configurable logic devices (CLDs).
Security accelerator modules may provide customizable hardware acceleration of security protocols and functions. Security attack modules may provide customizable hardware implementation of specific security attacks that may be timing specific or may require extremely high traffic generation (e.g., simulation of bot-net and denial of service attacks). Protocol fuzzying modules may test edge cases in networking system implementations. A protocol fuzzying module may target a specific data value or packet type and may generate a variety of different values (valid or invalid) in turn. The goal of a fuzzer may be to provide malicious or erroneous data or to provide too much data to test whether a device will break and therefore indicate a vunerability. A protocol fuzzying module may also identify constraints by systematically varying as aspect of the input data (e.g., packet size) to determine acceptable ranges of input data. Application protocols modules may provide customizable hardware implementation or testing of specific network application protocols to increase overall throughput.
The output of one or more of these functional modules, along with VLAN processing, may be fed into one or more network processors along with the ingress packet. Likewise, egress packets generated by the network processors may be processed by one or more of several core functional modules in high-speed configurable logic devices, including:
Controller 106 provides operational control of one or more blades in architecture 100A. Controller 106 includes control processor 134 coupled to an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) containing the basic input and output system (BIOS), universal serial bus (USB) interfaces 336, clock source 338, joint test action group (JTAG) controller 324, processor debug port 334, random access memory (RAM) 332, and Ethernet medium access controllers (MACs) 330A and 330B coupled to non-volatile memories 320/322. EEPROM memory 322 may be used to store general configuration options, e.g., the MAC address(es), link types, and other part-specific configuration options. Flash memory 320 may be used to store configurable applications such as network boot (e.g., PXE Boot).
Controller 106 may be an integrated system on a chip or a collection of two or more discrete modules. Control processor 134 may be a general purpose central processing unit such as an INTEL x86 compatible processor. In some embodiments, control processor 134 may be an INTEL XEON processor code-named JASPER FOREST and may incorporate or interface with additional chipset components including memory controllers and input/output controllers, e.g., the INTEL IBEX PEAK south bridge. Control processor is coupled, e.g., via a serial peripheral interface to non-volatile memory containing BIOS software. (Note that references in this specification to SPI interfaces, for example those interconnecting CLDs and/or network processors, are references to the system packet interface (SPI-4.2) rather than the serial peripheral interface.) The BIOS software provides processor instructions sufficient to configure control processor 134 and any chipset components necessary to access storage device 109. The BIOS also includes instructions for loading, or booting, an operating system from storage device 109 or a USB memory device connected to interface 336.
USB interfaces 336 provide external I/O access to controller 106. USB interfaces 336 may be used by an operator to connect peripheral devices such as a keyboard and pointing device. USB interfaces 336 may be used by an operator to load software onto controller 106 or perform any other necessary data transfer. USB interfaces 336 may also be used by controller 106 to access USB connected devices within system 100A.
Clock source CK 505 is a clock source to drive the operation of the components of controller 106. Clock source may be driven by a crystal to generate a precise oscillation wave.
JTAG controller 324 is a microcontroller programmed to operate as a controller for JTAG communications with other devices. JTAG provides a fallback debugging and programming interface for various system components. This protocol enables fault isolation and recovery, especially where a device has been incompletely or improperly programmed, e.g., due to loss of power during programming. In certain embodiments, JTAG controller 324 is a CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR CY68013 microcontroller programmed to execute JTAG instructions and drive JTAG signal lines. JTAG controller 324 may include or be connected to a non-volatile memory to program the controller on power up.
Processor debug port 334 is a port for debugging control processor 106 as well as chipset components. Processor debug port 334 may conform to the INTEL XDB specification.
RAM 332 is a tangible, computer readable medium coupled to control processor 134 for storing the instructions and data of the operating system and application processes running on control processor 134. RAM 332 may be double data rate (DDR3) memory.
Ethernet MACs 330A and 330B provide logic and signal control for communicating with standard Ethernet devices. These MACS may be coupled to control processor 134 via a PCIe bus. MACS 330A and 330B may be INTEL 82599 dual 10 Gbps parts. In some embodiments, MACs 330A and 330B may be incorporated into control processor 134 or the chipset devices. Ethernet MACs 330A and 330B are coupled to non-volatile memories 320/322.
Controller 106 is coupled to tangible, computer readable medium in the form of mass storage device 109, e.g., a solid state drive (SSD) based on high speed flash memory. In some embodiments, controller 106 is coupled to storage device 109 via a high speed peripheral bus such as an SATA bus. Storage device 109 includes an operating system, application level programs to be executed on one or more processors within the system, and other data and/or instructions used to configure various components or perform the tasks of the present disclosure. Storage device 109 may also store data generated by application level programs or by hardware components of the system. For example, network traffic captured by capture/offload CLDs 102A may be copied to storage device 109 for later retrieval.
Network processor 105 provides software programmable computing that may be optimized for network applications. Network processor may be a NETLOGIC XLR processor. Network processor 105 is coupled to memory 344, boot flash 326, CPLD 348, and Ethernet transceiver 346. Memory 344 is a tangible, computer readable storage medium for storing the instructions and data of the operating system and application processes running on network processor 105. RAM 332 may be double data rate (DDR3) memory. Boot flash 326 is non-volatile memory storing the operating system image for network processor 105. Boot flash 326 may also store application software to be executed on network processor 105. CPLD 348 may provide glue logic between network processor 205 and boot flash 326 (e.g., because the network processor may be capable of interfacing flash memory directly). CPLD 348 may also provide reset and power sequencing for network processor 105.
Network processor 105 provides four parallel Ethernet ports, e.g., RGMII ports, for communicating with other devices via the Ethernet protocol. Ethernet transceiver 346, e.g., MARVELL 88E1145 serializes these four ports to provide interoperability with the multiport management switch 110. Specifically, in some embodiments, network processor 105 provides four Reduced Gigabit Media Independent Interface (RGMII) ports, each of which requires twelve pins. The MARVELL 88E1145 transceiver serializes these ports to reduce the pin count to four pins per port.
Routing FPGA 102B is a configurable logic device configured to route network packets between other devices within the network testing system. Specifically, FPGA 102B is a field programmable gate array and, in some embodiments, is an ALTERA STRATIX 4 device. FPGAs 102 may also be XILINX VIRTEX, ACTEL SMARTFUSION, or ACHRONIX SPEEDSTER parts. Routing FPGA 102B may be coupled to tangible computer-readable memory 103B to provide increased local (to the FPGA) data storage. In some embodiments, memory 103B is 8 MB of quad data rate (QDR) static RAM. Static RAM operates at a higher speed than dynamic RAM (e.g., as DDR3 memory) but has a much lower density.
Offload/capture FPGA 102A is a configurable logic device configured to perform a number of functions as packets are received from external ports 101 or as packets are prepared for transmission on external ports 101. Specifically, FPGA 102B is a field programmable gate array and, in some embodiments, is an ALTERA STRATIX 4 device. Offload/capture FPGA 102A may be coupled to tangible computer-readable memory 103A to provide increased local (to the FPGA) data storage. In some embodiments, memory 103A is two banks of 16 GB of DDR3 RAM. Memory 103A may be used to store packets as they are received. Offload/capture FPGA 102A may also be coupled, e.g. via XAUI or SGMII ports to external interfaces 101, which may be constructed from physical interfaces 360 and transceivers 362. Physical interfaces 360 convert the XAUI/SGMII data format to a gigabit Ethernet signal format. Physical interfaces 360 may be NETLOGIC AEL2006 transceivers. Transceivers 362 convert the gigabit Ethernet signal format into a format suitable for a limited length, direct attach connection. Transceivers 362 may be SFP+ transceivers for copper of fiber optic cabling.
Layer 2/Layer 3 FPGA 102C is a configurable logic device configured to generate layer 2 or layer 3 egress network traffic. Specifically, FPGA 102B is a field programmable gate array and, in some embodiments, is an ALTERA STRATIX 4 device.
Management switch 110 is a high-speed Ethernet switch capable of cross connecting various devices on a single blade or across blades in the network testing system. Management switch 110 may be coupled to non-volatile memory to provide power-on configuration information. Management switch 110 may be a 1 Gbps Ethernet switch, e.g., FULCRUM/INTEL FM4000 or BROADCOM BCM5389. In some embodiments, management switch 110 is connected to the following other devices:
Serial port access system 366 provides direct data and/or control access to various system components via controller 106 or an external serial port 372, e.g., a physical RS-232 port on the front of the blade. Serial port access system 366 (illustrated in detail in
Each sub-system of control system 450 may include, or have access to, any suitable hardware devices, software, CLD configuration information, and/or firmware for providing the respective functions of that sub-system, as disclosed herein. The hardware devices, software, CLD configuration information, and/or firmware of each respective sub-system may be embodied in a single device of system 16, or distributed across multiple devices of 16, as appropriate. The software, CLD configuration information, and/or firmware (including any relevant algorithms, code, instructions, or other logic) of each sub-system may be stored in any suitable tangible storage media of system 16 and may and executable by any processing device of system 16 for performing functions associated with that sub-system.
CLDs in the present disclosure provide specialized functions, but require external control and management. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, control CPU 106 provides this external control and management for the various CLDs on a board. Control CPU 106 may program any one of the CLDs on the board (e.g., 102A, 102B, 102C, or 123) to configure the logic and memory of that CLD. Control CPU 106 may write instructions and/or data to a CLD. For example, control CPU 106 may send instructions to traffic generating CLD 102C to have that device generating a specified number of network messages in a particular format with specified characteristics. In another example, control CPU 106 may send instructions to capture/offload CLD 102A to read back latency statistics gathered during a packet capture window.
CLDs are usually managed via a local bus such as a PCI bus. Such an approach does not scale to large numbers of CLDs and does not facilitate connectivity between multiple CLDs and multiple CPUs. Some bus designs also require the payment of licensing fees. The present disclosure provides a CLD management solution based on the exchange of specialized Ethernet packets that can read and write CLD memories (i.e., CLD registers).
In some embodiments, CLDs in the present disclosure contain embedded Ethernet controllers designed to parse incoming specially formatted packets as command directives for memory access to be executed. In this approach, the CLD directly interprets the incoming packets to make the access to internal CLD memory without intervention by an intermediate CPU or microcontroller processing the Ethernet packets. Simultaneous requests from multiple originating packet sources (e.g., CPUs) are supported through the use of a command FIFO that queues up incoming requests. After each command directive is completed by the CLD, a response packet is sent back to the originating source CPU containing the status of the operation.
Three layers of packet definition are used to form the full command directive, packet source and destination addressing, the Ethernet type field, and the register access directive payload. The destination MAC (Media Access Controller) address of each CLD contains the system mapping scheme for the CLDs while the source MAC contains the identity of the originating CPU. Note that in some embodiments, the MAC addresses of each CLD is only used within the network testing system and are never used on any external network link. Sub-fields within the destination MAC address (6 bytes total in length) identify the CLD type, an CLD index and a board slot ID. The CLD type refers to the function performed by that particular CLD within the network testing system (i.e., traffic generating CLD or capture/offload CLD). A pre-defined Ethernet-Type field is matched to act as a filter to allow the embedded Ethernet controller ignore unwanted network traffic. These 3 fields within the packet conform to the standard Ethernet fields (IEEE 802.3).
This conformance allows implementation of the network with currently available interface integrated circuits and Ethernet switches. Ethernet also requires fewer I/O pins than a bus like PCI, therefore freeing up I/O capacity on the CLD and reducing the trace routing complexity of the circuit board. Following the MAC addressing and Ethernet type fields a proprietary command format is defined for access directives supported by the CLD. Some embodiments support instructions for CLD register reads and writes, bulk sequential register reads and writes, and a diagnostic loopback or echo command. Diagnostic loopback or echo commands provide a mechanism for instructing a CLD to emulate a network loopback by swapping the source and destination addresses on a packet and inserting the current timestamp to indicate the time the packet was received.
In certain embodiments, a directive packet can contain only one type of directive (e.g., read or write), but can access a large number of register addresses within a CLD. In some embodiments, the packet size is limited to the standard maximum transmission unit of 1,500 bytes. In some embodiments, jumbo frames of 9,000 bytes are supported. By packing multiple instructions of the same type into a single directive, significant performance enhancement has been observed. In one configuration, startup time of a board was reduced from approximately a minute to approximately five seconds by configuring CLDs over Ethernet instead of over a PCI bus.
In some embodiments, access directives may be used to access the entire memory space accessible to a CLD. Some CLDs have a flat memory space where a range of addresses corresponds to CLD configuration data, another range of addresses corresponds to internal CLD working memory, and yet another range of addresses corresponds to external memory connected to the CLD such as quad data rate static random access memory (QDR) or double data rate synchronous dynamic access memory (DDR).
Ethernet switch 110 operates as a layer 2 router with multiple ports. Each port is connected to a device (as discussed in the previous paragraph) or another switch (e.g., through the backplane connection). Ethernet switch 110 maintains a memory associating each port with a list of one or more MAC addresses of the device or devices connected to that port. Ethernet switch 110 may be implemented as a store and forward device receiving at least part of an incoming Ethernet packet before making a routing decision. The switch examines the destination MAC address and compares that destination MAC address with entries in the switch's routing table. If a match is found, the packet will be resent to the assigned port. If a match is not found, the switch may broadcast the packet to all ports. Upon receipt of a packet, the switch will also examine the source MAC address and compare that address to the switch's routing table. If the routing table does not have an entry for the source MAC address, the switch will create an entry associating the source MAC address with the port on which the packet arrived. In some embodiments, the switch may populates its routing table by sending a broadcast message (i.e., one with a destination address of FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF) to trigger responses from each connected device. In other embodiments, each device may include an initialization step of sending an Ethernet message through the switch to announce the device's availability on the system.
Because Ethernet is a simple, stateless protocol, additional logic is useful to ensure receipt and proper handling of messages. In some embodiments, each sending device incorporates a state machine to watch for a response or recognize when a response was not received within a predefined window of time (i.e., a timeout). A response indicating a failure or timeout situation is often reported in a system log. In some situations, a failure or timeout will cause the state machine to resend the original message (i.e., retry). In certain embodiments, each process running on control processor 106 needing to send instructions to other devices via Ethernet may use a shared library to open a raw socket for sending instructions and receiving responses. Multiplexing across multiple processes may be implemented by repurposing the sequence number field and setting that field to the process identifier of the requesting process. The shared library routines may include filtering mechanisms to ensure delivery of responses based on this process identifier (which may be echoed back by the CLD or network processor when responding to the request).
In certain embodiments, controller software 132 includes a software module called an CLD server. The CLD server provides a centralized mechanism for tracking failures and timeouts of Ethernet commands. The CLD server may be implemented as an operating system level driver that implements a raw socket. This raw socket is configured as a handler for Ethernet packets of the type created to implement the CLD control protocol. All other Ethernet packets left for handling by the controller's networking stack or other raw sockets.
At step 474, the network processor sends the directive packet to control CPU 106 via switch 110. The directive packet is received by the CLD server through a raw port on the network driver of the control server. The CLD server creates a record of the directive packet and includes in that record the current time and at least the source MAC address and the sequence number of the directive packet. The CLD server modifies the directive packet as follows. The source MAC address is set to the MAC address of control CPU 106 and the destination MAC address is set to the MAC address of traffic generating CLD 102C. In some embodiments, the CLD server replaces the sequence number with its own current sequence number. In some embodiments, the CLD server may keep a copy of the entire modified directive packet to allow later retransmission.
At step 476, the CLD server transmits the modified directive packet, via switch 110, to traffic generating CLD 102C for execution.
At a regular interval, the CLD server examines its records of previously sent directives to and determines whether any are older than a predetermined age threshold. This might indicate that a response from the destination CLD is unlikely due to an error in transmission or execution of the directive. If any directives are older than the threshold, then a timeout is recognized at step 478.
In the case of a timeout, the CLD server generates an error message at step 480 to send to the requesting network processor. In some embodiments, CLD server may resend the directive one or more times before giving up and reporting an error. The CLD server also deletes the record of the directive packet at this time.
If a response is received prior to a timeout, CLD server removes the directive packet record and forwards the CLD response packet to the originating network processor at step 482. To forward the CLD response packet, the CLD server replaces the destination MAC address with the MAC address of the originating network processor. If the sequence number was replaced by the CLD server in step 474, the original sequence number may be restored. Finally the modified response packet is transmitted, via switch 110, to the originating network processor.
While the present disclosure describes the use of Ethernet, other networking technologies could be substituted. For example, a copper distributed data interface (CDDI) ring or concentrator could be used.
In a typical IEEE 802 network, each network endpoint is assigned a unique MAC (Media Access Control) address. Normally the assigned MAC address is permanent because it is used in layer 2 communications (such as Ethernet) and unique addressing is a requirement.
As discussed above, network testing system 16 may utilize a configuration in which multiple Ethernet-configured devices internally communicate with each other over an internal Ethernet interface. In some embodiments, system 16 comprises a chassis 50 with multiple slots 52, and each containing a blade 54 with multiple Ethernet devices, e.g., CLDs 102, network processors 105, control processor 106, etc.
In some embodiments, the control CPU 106 of each blade 54 is the only component of system 16 with connectivity to external networks and is thus the public/external Ethernet interface of control CPU 106 is only component of system 16 that is assigned a globally unique “public” MAC address. Hardware and software of system 16 dynamically assigns each other Ethernet device in system 16 (including each network processor 105, each CLD 102, and local/internal Ethernet interfaces of control CPU 106) a MAC address that is unique within system 16, but need not be globally unique, as the internal Ethernet network of system 16 does not connect with external networks. In some embodiments, each of such Ethernet devices is dynamically assigned a unique MAC address based on a set of characteristics regarding that device and its location within the configuration of system 16. For example, in some embodiments, each network processor 105 and CLD in system 16 automatically derives a 6-byte MAC address for itself that has the following format:
Each CLD (e.g., FPGA 102) derives its own MAC address by reading some strapping IO pins on initialization. For example, a four-CLD system may have two pins that encode a binary number between 0 and 3. Strapping resistors are connected to these pins for each CLD, and the CLD reads the value to derive its MAC address. This technique allows system controller 106 to determine all of the encoded information based on the initial ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) request received from an Ethernet device on the internal Ethernet network. This flexibility allows new blades 54 to be defined that are compatible with existing devices without causing backwards compatibility problems. For example, if a new blade is designed that is compatible with an old blade, the model number stays the same. If the new blade adds a new CLD to system 16, then the new CLD is simply assigned a different CLD number for the MAC addressing. However, if a new blade is installed in system 16 that requires additional functionality on the system controller 106, the new blade may be assigned a new model number. Compatibility with existing blades can thus be preserved.
In addition, the dynamically assigned MAC addresses of Ethernet devices may be used by a DHCP server for booting such devices, as discussed below in detail.
Each processor may also have an IP address, which may be assigned by the DHCP server based on the MAC address of that device and a set of IP address assignment rules.
As discussed above, system 16 may be housed in a chassis 50 that interconnects multiple cards 54 via a backplane 56. In some embodiments, all cards 54 boot a single software image. In other embodiments, each card 54 runs a different software image, possibly with different revisions, in the same chassis 50.
One challenge results from the fact that the cards 54 in chassis 50 are physically connected to each other via Ethernet over the backplane 56. In addition, some processors in system 16 may obtain their operating system image from other processors across the shared Ethernet using DHCP. DHCP is a broadcast protocol, such that a request from any processor on any card 54 can be seen from any other card 54. Thus, without an effective measure to prevent it, any processor can boot from any other processor that replies to its DHCP request quickly enough, including processors on other cards 54 from the requesting processor. This may be problematic in certain embodiments, e.g., embodiments that support hot swapping of cards 54. For example, if a CPU on card 1 boots from a CPU on card 2, and card 2 is subsequently removed from chassis 50, CPU 1 may crash.
Thus, in some embodiments (e.g., embodiments that support hot swapping of cards 54), to utilize multiple control processors 105 and drives 109 available in a multi-card system 16, as well as to allow for each control processor 106 to run an independent operating system, while maintaining Ethernet connectivity to the backplane 56, system 16 may be configured such that local network processors 105 boot from the local control processor 106 using DHCP, NFS (Network File System), and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol). This task is divided by a special dynamic configuration for the DHCP server.
First, the network processors 105 and control processor 106 on a card 54 determine what physical slot 52 the card 54 is plugged into. The slot number is encoded into the MAC address of local network processors 105. The MAC address of each network processor 105 is thus dynamic, but of a predictable format. The DHCP server on the control processor 106 configures itself to listen only for requests from network processors 105 (and other devices) with the proper slot number encoded in their MAC addresses. Thus, DHCP servers on multiple cards 54 listen for request on the shared Ethernet, but will only reply to a subset of the possible MAC addresses that are present in system 16. Thus, system 16 may be configured such that only one DHCP server responds to a DHCP request from any network processor 105. Each network processor 105 is thus essentially assigned to exactly one DHCP server, the local DHCP server. With this arrangement, each network processor 105 always boots from a processor on the same card as that network processor 105 (i.e., a local processor). In other embodiments, one or more network processor 105 may be assigned to the DHCP server on another card, such that network processors 105 may boot from a processor on another card.
A more detailed example of a method of addressing and booting devices in system 16 is discussed below, with reference to
Thus, network processors 105 and CLDs 102 may generate their own MAC addresses according to a suitable algorithm. The MAC address for each device 102, 105, and 106 on a particular card 54 may identify the chassis slot 52 in which that card 54 is located, as well as other identifying information. In some embodiments, management switch 110 has no CPU and runs semi-independently. In particular, management switch 110 may have no assigned MAC address, and may rely on control CPU 106 for intelligence.
In some embodiments, network testing system 16 is configured such that cards 54 can boot and operate independently if desired, and be hot-swapped without affecting other the operation of the other cards 54, without the need for additional redundant hardware. Simultaneously, cards 54 can also communicate with each across the backplane 56. Such architecture may improve the scalability and reliability of the system, e.g., in high-slot-count systems. Further, the Ethernet-based architecture of some embodiments may simplify card layout and/or reduce costs.
Cards 54 may be configured to boot up in any suitable manner.
Referring to
As discussed below, configuration script 304 may be configured to run DHCP server 300, and to automatically and dynamically write new configuration files 306 based on the current configuration of system 16, including automatically generating a list of MAC addresses or potential MAC addresses for various devices for which communications may be monitored. Configuration script 304 may communicate with system hardware via software driver (API) 302 to determine the physical slot 52 in which the card 54 is located. Configuration file 306 generated by configuration script 304 may include a list of possible valid MAC addresses that may be self-generated by network processors 105 (as discussed below) or other offload processors such that DHCP server 300 can monitor for communications from network processors 105 on the same card 54. In some embodiments, configuration file 306 may also list possible valid MAC addresses for particular devices unable to boot themselves or particular devices on a card 54 located in a particular slot 52 (e.g., slot 0). Thus, by automatically generating a configuration file including a list of relevant MAC addresses, configuration script 304 may eliminate the need to manually compile a configuration file or MAC address list.
In general, control CPU 106 boots itself first, then boots management server 110, then loads DHCP server 300 and TFTP server 340, NTP server 342, and NFS server 344 stored on disk 109. After the control CPU 106 finishes loading its servers, each network processor 105 loads itself and obtains address and other information via a DHCP request and response. A more detailed description is provided below.
At step 402, the board 54 is powered. At step 404, management switch 110 reads an EEPROM connected to management switch 110, activates local connections between controller 106, network processors 105, and CLDs 102, etc. on card 54, and deactivates backplane connections 328, such that all local processors 105 and 106 and CLDs 102 are connected.
In some embodiments, board 54 disables signaling to the backplane 56 (by deactivating backplane connections 328) and keeps such connections deactivated unless and until board 54 determines a need to communicated with another board 54 in system 16. Enabling an Ethernet transceiver when there is no receiver on the other side on the backplane 56 causes extra electromagnetic radiation emissions, which may run counter FCC regulations. Thus, disabling backplane signaling may reduce unwanted electromagnetic radiation emissions, which may place or keep system 16 within compliance for certain regulatory standards.
In addition, in one embodiment, each management switch 110 can potentially connect to three other switches on the backplane 56 (in other embodiments, management switch 110 may connect to more other switches). The switch 110 may also provide a function called “loop detection” that is implemented via a protocol known as “spanning tree.” Loops are typically undesirable in Ethernet systems because a packet may get caught in the loop, causing a “broadcast storm” condition. In certain embodiments, the backplane architecture of system 16 is such that if every switch 110 comes with its backplane connections enabled and all boards 54 are populated in the system, the switches 110 may detect a loop configuration and randomly disable ports, depending on which port was deemed to be “looped” first by system 16. This may cause boards 54 to become randomly isolated from each other on the backplane 56. Thus, by first disabling all backplane connections, and then carefully only enabling the connections in a manner that prevents a loop condition from occurring, the possibility of randomly isolating boards from each other may be reduced or eliminated. In other embodiments, this potential program is addressed by using a different backplane design, e.g., by using a “star” configuration as opposed to a “mesh” configuration, such that the backplane connections may remain enabled.
At step 406, system controller 106 reads bootflash 320 and loads its operating system 308 from attached disk drive 109. At step 408, each network processor 105 reads local bootflash 326 and begins a process of obtaining an operating system 308 from attached disk drive 109 via DHCP server 300, by requesting an IP address from DHCP server 300, as discussed below. Each network processor 105 can complete the process of loading an operating system 308 from disk drive 109 after receiving a DHCP response from DHCP server 300, which includes needed information for loading the operating system 308, as discussed below. In some embodiments, disk drive 109 stores different operating systems 308 for controller 106 and network processors 105. Thus, each processor (controller 106 and individual network processors 105) may retrieve the correct operating system 308 for that processor via DHCP server 300.
Bootflash 320 and 326 may contain minimal code sufficient to load the rest of the relevant operating system 308 from drive 109. Each network processor 105 on a card 54 automatically derives a MAC address for itself and requests an IP address by sending out a series of DHCP requests that include the MAC address of that network processor 105. As discussed above, the MAC address derived by each network processor 105 may indicate . . . . To derive the slot-identifying MAC address for each network processor 105, instructions in bootflash 326 may interrogate a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) 348 to determine which slot 52 the card 54 is located in, which may then be incorporated in the MAC address for the network processor 105. Steps 404, 406, and 408 may occur fully or partially simultaneously.
At step 410, system controller software 132 programs local microcontrollers 324 so it can query system status via USB. At step 412, system controller 106 queries hardware slot information to determine which slot 52 the card 54 is located. At step 414, system controller 106 configures management switch 110 to activate backplane connections 328. Because slots 52 are connected in a mesh fashion by backplane 56, the backplane connections 328 may be carefully configured to avoid switch loops. For example, in an example 3-slot embodiment: in slot 0, both backplane connections 328 are activated; in slot 1, only one backplane connection 328 is activated; and in slot 2, the other backplane connection 328 is activated.
At step 416, system controller software 132 starts internal NFS server 344, TFTP server 340, and NTP server 342 services. At step 418, system controller software 132 queries hardware status, generates a custom configuration file 304 for the DHCP server 300, and starts DHCP server 300. After DHCP server 300 is started, each network processor 105 receives a response from DHCP server 300 of the local system controller 106 at step 420, in response to the DHCP requests initiated by that network processor 105 at step 408. The DHCP response to each network processor 105 may include NFS, NTP, TFTP and IP address information, and identify which operating system 308 to load from drive 109 (e.g., by including the path to the correct operating system kernel and filesystem that the respective network processor 105 should load and run).
At step 422, each network processor 105 configures its network interface with the supplied network address information. At step 424, each network processor 105 downloads the relevant OS kernel from drive 109 into its own memory using TFTP server 340, mounts filesystem via NFS server 344, and synchronizes its time with the clock of the local system controller 106 via NTP server 342.
In one embodiment, the NTP time server 342 is modified to “lie” to the network processors 105. Network processors 105 have no “realtime clock” (i.e., they always start up with a fixed date). With the NTP protocol, before an NTP server will give the correct time to a remote client, it must be reasonably sure that its own time is accurate, determined via “stratum” designation. This normally takes several minutes, which introduces an undesirable delay (e.g., the network processor 105 would need to delay boot). Thus, the NTP server immediately advertises itself as a stratum 1 server to fool the NTP client on the network processors 105 to immediately synchronize.
CLD-Based Packet Routing
The generalized architecture characteristics of the embodiments of the present disclosure enable allows flexible internal routing of received network messages. However, some applications may require routing rules to direct traffic matching certain criteria to a specific network processor. For example, in certain embodiments, applications or situations, when a particular network processor sends a network message to a device under test it is advantageous that the responsive network message is routed back to the originating network processor, and in particular to the same core of the originating network processor, e.g., to maintain thread affinity. As another example, in some embodiments, applications, or situations, all network traffic received on a particular virtual local area network (VLAN) should be routed to the same network processor.
These solutions differ from conventional Internet Protocol (IP) routing approaches, which utilize a table of prefix-based rules In conventional IP routers, each rule includes an IP address (four bytes in IPv4) and a mask indicating which bits of the IP address should be considered when applying the rule. The IP router searches the list of rules for each received packet and applies the rule with the longest prefix match. This approach works well for IP routing because rules often apply to subnetworks defined by a specific number of most significant bits in an IP address. For example, consider a router with the following two rule prefixes:
a) 128.2.0.0 (255.255.0.0)—all traffic starting with 128.2
b) 128.0.0.0 (255.0.0.0)—all traffic starting with 128
A packet arriving with a destination address of 128.2.1.237 would match both rules, but rule “a” would be applied because it matches more bits of the prefix.
The conventional rule-based approach does not work well for representing rules with ranges. For example a rule applying to IP addresses from 128.2.1.2 to 128.2.1.6 would require five separate entries in a traditional routing table including the entries 128.2.1.2, 128.2.1.3, 128.2.1.4, 128.2.1.5, and 128.2.1.6 (each with a mask of 255.255.255.255).
For certain testing applications, system 16 needs to bind ranges of IP addresses to a particular processor (e.g., a particular network processor or a particular control CPU). For example, in a network simulation, each processor may simulate an arbitrary set of hosts on a system. In certain embodiments, each packet received must arrive at the assigned processor so that the assigned processor can determine whether responses were out of sequence, incomplete, or delayed. To achieve this goal, routing CLDs 102A may implement a routing protocol optimized for range matching.
At step 536, capture/offload CLD 102A determines whether to capture the packet in capture buffer 103A, based on capture logic 520. Prior to the start of the present method, controller 106 may instruct capture logic 520 to enable or disable packet capture, e.g., for all incoming packets or selected incoming packets (e.g., based on specified filters applied to packet header information). Thus, at step 536, capture/offload CLD 102A may determine whether to capture the incoming packet, i.e., store a copy of the packet (including prepend header) in capture buffer 103A based on the current capture enable/disable setting specified by capture logic 520 and/or header information of the incoming packet. In one embodiment, prepend module 506 may include a capture flag in the prepend header at step 534 that indicates (e.g., based on capture logic 520 and/or header information of the incoming packet) whether or not to capture the packet Thus, in such embodiment, step 536 may simply involve checking for such capture flag in the prepend header.
Based on the decision at step 536, the packet may be copied and stored in capture buffer 103A, as indicated at step 538. The method may then proceed to the process for routing the packet to a network processor 105. Processing and routing system 500 may provide both static (or “basic”) routing and dynamic routing of packets from ports 101 to network processors 105. At step 540, system 500 may determine whether to route the packet according to a static routing protocol or a dynamic routing protocol. Routing management module 504 running on control processor 106 may be configured to send instructions to configuration register 502 on CLDs 102A to select between static and dynamic routing as desired, e.g., manually based on user input or automatically by controller 106. Such selection may apply to all incoming packets or to selected incoming packets (e.g., based on specified filters applied to packet header information).
If static (or “basic”) routing is determined at step 540, the packet may be forwarded to routing CLD 102B, at which static routing module 510 may apply a static routing algorithm at step 542 to determine a particular destination processor 105 and physical interface (e.g., a particular SPI-4.2 port bus and/or a particular XAUI port) for forwarding the packet to the destination processor 105. An example static packet routing algorithm is discussed below.
Alternatively, if dynamic routing is determined at step 540, the packet may be forwarded to routing CLD 102B, at which dynamic routing module 512 may apply a dynamic routing process at steps 544 through 548 to dynamically route the packet to the proper network processor 105, the proper core within that network processor 105, the proper thread group within that core, and the proper thread within that thread group (e.g., to route the packet to the thread assigned to the conversation in which that packet is involved, based on header information of the packet), as well as providing load balancing across multiple physical interfaces (e.g., multiple SPI4 interfaces) connected to the target network processor 105.
At step 544, dynamic routing module 512 may determine the proper destination network processor 105 and CPU core of that processor based on dynamic routing algorithms. At step 546, dynamic routing module 512 may determine a thread ID associated with the packet being routed. At step 548, dynamic routing module 512 may determine select a physical interface (e.g., a particular SPI4 interface) over which to route the packet to the destination network processor 105, e.g., to provide load balancing across multiple physical interfaces. Each of these steps of the dynamic routing process, 544, 546, and 548, is discussed below in greater detail. It should also be noted that one or more of these aspects of the dynamic routing process may be incorporated into the static routing process, depending on the particular embodiment and/or operational situation. For example, in some embodiments, static routing may incorporate the thread ID determination of step 546 in order to route the packet to a particular thread corresponding to that packet.
Once the static or dynamic routing determinations are made as discussed above, routing CLD 102B may then route packet to the determined network processor 105 over the determined routing path (e.g., physical interface(s)) at step 550. At step 552, the network processor 105 receives the packet and places the packet in the proper thread queue based on the thread ID determined at step 546. At step 554, the network processor 105 may then process the packet as desired, e.g., using any application-level processing. Various aspects of the routing method 530 are now discussed in further detail.
In some embodiments, once the key has been obtained for an ingress packet, routing engine 508 may prepend a destination specific header to the packet. Likewise, every packet generated by control processor 106 or network processor 105 for transmission by interface 101 includes a prepend header that will be stripped off by capture/offload CLD 102A prior to final transmission. These prepend headers may be used to route this traffic internally n system 16.
The prepend header added by capture/offload CLD 102A to ingress packets arriving at interface 101 for delivery to a network processor may contain the following information, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure:
The np_extport_ingress_hdr structure defines the prepend fields set on all packets arriving from an external port to be processed by a network processor, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The timestamp field may be set to the time of receipt by the capture/offload CLD 102A receiving the packet from interface 101. This timestamp may be used to determine all necessary and useful statistics relating to timing as it stops the clock prior to any internal routing or transmission delays between components within the network testing system. The physical_interface field (which may be set by routing engine 508) contains information sufficient to uniquely identify the physical port on which the packet was originally received. The thread_id field contains information sufficient to uniquely identify the software thread on the network processor that will process this incoming packet.
As described elsewhere in this specification, maintaining ordering and assigning packets to thread groups ensures that the testing application has complete visibility into all of the packets in a given test scenario. The L3 and L4 offset fields indicate the location within the original packet of the OSI layer three and four packet headers. In some embodiments, these offset fields may be is determined by capture/offload CLDs 102A and stored for later use. Header offsets may be time-consuming to determine due to the possible presence of variable-length option fields and additional embedded protocol layers. Because the header offsets must be determined in order to perform other functions (e.g., checksum verification described below), this information may efficiently be stored in the prepend header for future reference. For instance, parsing VLAN tags can be time-consuming because there may be many different values that may be used for VLAN tag identification, and because VLAN headers may be stored on unaligned boundaries. However, if the capture/offload CLD 102A indicates that the L3 header is at a 14 byte offset, this fact may immediately indicate the lack of VLAN tags. In that case, routing engine 508 and/or network processor 105 may skip VLAN parsing altogether. In another instance, if parsing L3 headers (IPv4 and IPv6) can be slowed by the presence of option headers, which are of variable length. By looking at the L4 header byte offset, network processor 105 can immediately determine whether options are present and may skip attempts to parse those options if they are not present.
The flags field indicates additional information about the packet as received. In some embodiments, flags may indicate whether the certain checksum values were correct, indicating that the data was likely transferred without corruption. For example, flags may indicate whether layer 2, 3, or 4 checksums were valid or whether an IPv6 tunnel checksum is valid. The hash field is the hash value determined by capture/offload CLDs 102A and stored for later use.
The prepend header for packets generated by a network processor for transmission via interface 101 may contain the following information, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure:
The np_extport_egress_hdr structure defines the prepend fields set on all packets generated by a network processor to be sent on an external port to be processed by a network processor, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The physical_interface field contains information sufficient to identify the specific physical interface on which the packet was received. The timestamp_word_offset field indicates the location within the packet of the timestamp field for efficient access by capture/offload CLD 102A.
The prepend header for packets arriving via interface 101 for delivery to a control processor may contain the following information, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure:
The ethtype field is included in the prepend header and set to 0x800 (e.g., the value for Internet Protocol, Version 4 or IPv4) for ingress and egress traffic, though it ignored by the CLD and network processor hardware/software. This type value used to fool the Ethernet interface chipset (e.g., the INTEL 82599 Ethernet MAC or other suitable device) interfaced with the control processor into believing the traffic is regular IP over Ethernet when the system is actually using the area as a prepend header. Because this is a point-to-point link and because the devices on each end of the communication channel are operating in a raw mode or promiscuous mode, the prepend header may be handled properly on both ends without confusing a traditional networking stack. If the ethtype field were set to any value less than 0x600, the value would be treated as length instead under IEEE Standard 802.3x-1997.
The fields of the ingress prepend header for packets arriving on an external port and transmitted to the control processor are listed in the structure named bps_export_ingress_hdr. The timestamp field is set to the time of receipt by the capture/offload CLD 102A receiving the packet from interface 101. The intf field specifies the specific interface 101 on which the ingress packet arrived. The L3 and L4 offset fields indicate the location within the original packet of the OSI layer three and four packet headers. The flags field indicates additional information about the packet as received. In some embodiments, flags may indicate whether the certain checksum values were correct, indicating that the data was likely transferred without corruption. For example, flags may indicate whether layer 2, 3, or 4 checksums were valid or whether an IPv6 tunnel checksum is valid. The hash field is the hash value determined by capture/offload CLDs 102A and stored for later use. The thread_id field contains information sufficient to uniquely identify the software thread on the network processor that will process this incoming packet.
The prepend header for packets generated by a control processor for transmission via interface 101 may contain the following information, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure:
The fields of the engress prepend header for packets generated by a control processor for transmission via an external port are listed in the structure named bps_export_egress_hdr. The field 13_tunnel_offset identifies the start of the layer 3 tunneled packet header within the packet. The field tcp_mss is a maximum segment size value for use by the TCP segmentation offload processing logic in capture/offload CLD 102A. The intf field specifies the specific interface port 101 that should transmit the packet. The field timestamp_word_offset specifies the location in the packet where the capture/offload CLD 102A should insert the timestamp just prior to transmitting the packet.
The flags field may be used to trigger optional functionality to be performed by, e.g., capture/offload CLD 102A prior to transmission of egress packets. For example, flag bits may be used to instruct capture/offload CLD 102A to generate and set checksums for the IP header, L4 header (e.g., TCP, UDP, or ICMP), and/or a tunnel header. In another example, a flag bit may instruct capture/offload CLD 102A to insert a timestamp at a location specified by timestamp_word_offset. In yet another example, a flag bit may be used to instruct capture/offload CLD 102A to perform TCP segmentation using the tcp_mss value as a maximum segment size.
In some embodiments, the prepend header is encapsulated in another Ethernet header (so a packet would structure be (Ethernet→header prepend→header real Ethernet header). Such embodiments add an additional 14 bytes per-packet in overhead to the communication process versus tricking the MAC using 0x800 as the ethtype value.
Basic packet routing mode statically binds a port to a particular to a destination processor and bus/port. In some embodiments, configuration register 502 takes on the following meaning in the basic packet routing mode:
Packet processing and routing system 500 may provide dynamic packet routing in any suitable manner. For example, with reference to steps 544-548 of method 530 discussed above, dynamic routing module 512 may determine the proper destination network processor 105 and CPU core of that processor based on dynamic routing algorithms, determine a thread ID associated with the packet being routed, and select a physical interface (e.g., a particular SPI4 interface) over which to route the packet to the destination network processor 105, e.g., to provide load balancing across multiple physical interfaces.
In certain embodiments, dynamic routing module 512 is configured to determine ingress routing based on arbitrary IPv4 and IPv6 destination address ranges and VLAN ranges. Routing module 508 examines each ingress packet and generates a destination processor 105 and a thread group identifier associated with that processor. Thread groups are a logical concept on the network processors that each contain some number of software threads (i.e., multi-processing execution contexts). The second routing stage calculates a hash value (e.g., jhash value) based on particular header information in each ingress packet: namely, the source IP address, destination IP address, source port, and destination port. This hash value is used to determine which thread within the thread group determined by the CAM lookup to route the packet. In some embodiments, a predefined selected bit (e.g., a bit predetermined in may suitable manner as the least significant bit (LSB)) of the hash is also used to determine which of multiple physical interfaces on the CPU (ie: SPI 0 or 1, or XAUI 0 or 1) to route the packet, e.g., to provide load balancing across the multiple physical interfaces.
The Content Addressable Memory (CAM) lookup
At step 574, dynamic routing module 512 may perform a lookup into the VLAN table indexed by the VLAN identifier extracted from the packet to be routed. At step 576, dynamic routing module 512 may search the exception table for an entry matching the destination IP address of the ingress packet, or may fall back on a VLAN or system-wide default.
This method may be better understood in the context of certain data structures referenced above. Routing entries are stored in IP address ranges on a per-VLAN basis. The CAM is made up of a 4k×32 VLAN table (e.g., one entry per possible VLAN value), a 16k×256 Exception table, and a 16k×32 key table. The VLAN table may indicate the default destination for that VLAN, and may contain the location in the exception table that contains IP ranges associated with that VLAN. In some embodiments, the VLAN table may include start and end indices into the exception table to allow overlap and sharing of exception table entries between VLAN values. Each of these tables may be setup or modified by routing management module 504. Additional information about these three routing tables is included as follows, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.
In certain embodiments, address bits [13:2] of the VLAN table are the VLAN identifier. So, to configure VLAN 12′h2783 for port 0, you would write to location 0x309E0C. Because entries in the VLAN table have a start address into the Exception Table and a count (e.g., bits[21:16]), it is possible to have VLAN entries with overlapping rules or one VLAN entry may reference a subset of the exception table referenced by another VLAN entry.
The exception table may contain all of the IP ranges for each VLAN. Any given entry in the exception table can contain 1 IPv6 exception or up to 4 IPv4 exceptions. IPv6 and IPv4 cannot be mixed in a single entry, however there is no restriction on mixing IPv6 entries with IPv4 entries.
port 0=0x20—0000
port 1=0x40—0000
port 0=0x28—0000
port 1=0x48—0000
In certain embodiments, each entry of the VLAN table has the following format:
When a match is found for the destination IP address (it falls within a range defined in the exception table), the key for that entry is returned. If no match is found for that entry, the default key for that VLAN is returned. If there is no match for that VLAN, then the default key for the test interface is returned. In some embodiments, the format of the key is as follows:
Flow Affinity
Many network analysis mechanisms require knowledge of the order in which packets arrived at system 16. However, with the significant parallelism present in system 16 (e.g., multiple processors and multiple cores per processor), a mechanism is needed to ensure packet ordering. One approach employed is a method called “flow affinity.” Under this method, packets for a given network traffic flow should always be received and processed by the same CPU thread. Otherwise, packets may be processed out of order as a flow ping-pongs between CPU threads, reducing performance as well as causing false-positive detection of packet loss for network performance mechanisms like TCP fast-retransmit. The rudimentary hardware support for flow affinity provided by network processor 105 is simply not sufficiently flexible to account for all the types of traffic processed by system 16. The present disclosure presents a flexible flow affinity solution through a flow binding algorithm implemented in a CLD (e.g., routing CLD 102B).
At step 586, routing module 508 looks up in Table 5 the number of threads value and starting thread value corresponding to the previously determined (e.g., at step 576) thread group and processor identifier for the packet. In some embodiments, each processor may have up to 16 thread groups. In other embodiments, each processor may have up to 32 thread groups. A thread group may have multiple threads associated with it. The routing management module 504 may configure the thread associations, e.g., by modifying Table 5 on routing CLDs 102B.
At step 588, routing module 508 may calculate the thread identifier based on the following formula:
thread[4:0]=“Starting Thread”+(hash value MOD “Num threads”)
At step 590, routing module 508 may update the packet's prepend header to include the thread identifier for subsequent use by the network processor.
Dynamic routing module 512 may perform a hash function in parallel with (or alternatively, before or after) the CAM lookup and/or other aspects of the dynamic routing process. Dynamic routing module 512 may extract header information from each ingress packet and calculates a hash value from such header information using the jhash algorithm. In a particular embodiment, dynamic routing module 512 extracts a 12-byte “4-tuple”—namely, source IP, destination IP, source port, and dest port—from the IP header and UDP header of each ingress packet, and applies a jhash algorithm 516 to calculate a 32-bit jhash value from such 4-tuple. Dynamic routing module 512 may parse and calculate the hash value each packet at line rate in the FPGAs, which may thereby free up processor cycles in the network processors 105. For example, dynamic routing module 512 may embed the calculated hash value is into the prepend header of each packet so that the network processors 105 can make use of the hash without having to parse the packet or calculate the hash. Dynamic routing module 512 can then use the embedded jhash values for packet routing and load balancing as discussed herein.
As discussed herein, system 16 may utilize the jhash function written by Bob Jenkins (see http://burtleburtle.net/bob/c/lookup3.c) for various functions. As shown, the jhash function may be implemented by CLDs, e.g., FPGAs 102A and/or 102B of the example embodiment of
In some embodiments, dynamic routing module 512 pre-processes the 4-tuple information before applying the hash function such that all communications of a particular two-way communication flow—in both directions—receive the same hash value, and are thus routed to the same processor core in order to provide flow affinity. Packets flowing in different directions in the same communication flow will have opposite source port and destination port data, which would lead to different hash values (and thus potentially different routing destinations) for the two sides of a particular conversation. Thus, to avoid this result, in one embodiment dynamic routing module 512 05 utilizes a tuple ordering algorithm 518 that orders the four items of the 4-tuple in numerical order (or at least orders the source port and destination port) before applying the hash algorithm, such that the ordered tuple to which the hash function is applied is the same for both sides of the conversation. This technique may be useful for particular applications, e.g., in “bump in the wire” configurations where it is desired to monitor both sides of a conversation (e.g., for simulating or testing a firewall).
Further, dynamic routing module 512 may use jhash value to determine which of multiple physical interfaces (e.g., multiple SPI-4.2 interfaces or multiple XAUI interfaces) to route each packet, e.g., for load balancing across such physical interfaces. For example, a predefined selected bit (e.g., a bit predetermined in any suitable manner as the least significant bit (LSB)) of the hash may be used to determine which physical interfaces on the CPU (e.g., SPI-4.2 port 0 or 1, or XAUI 0 or 1) to route the packet. In an example embodiment, bit 10 of the jhash value was selected to determine the port to route each packet. Thus, in an example that includes two SPI interfaces (SPI-4.2 ports 0 and 1) between routing CLD 102B and network processor 105, if hash[10]==0 for a particular packet, routing CLD 102B will forward the packet on SPI-4.2 port 0, and if hash[10]==1, it will send the packet on SPI-4.2 port 1. Using the hash value in this manner may provide a deterministic mechanism for substantially evenly distributing traffic over two or more parallel interconnections (e.g., less than 1% difference in traffic distribution over each of the different interconnections) due to the substantially random nature of the predefined selected hash value bit.
The process discussed above may ensure that all packets of the same communication flow (and regardless of their direction in the flow) are forwarded not only to the same network processor 105, but to that processor 105 via the same physical serial interface (e.g., the same SPI-4.2 port), which may ensure that packets of the same communication flow are delivered to the network processor 105 in the correct order, due to the serial nature of such interface.
Processor-Specific Routing
While many components provide channelized interconnections such as the SPI4 interconnections on the FPGAs, general purpose CPUs often do not. General purpose CPUs are designed to operate more as controllers of specialized devices rather than peers in a network of other processors.
In
In this configuration, the prepend header (discussed above) is used to signal to the MAC that the packet should be passed along as an IP packet. The control processor has a raw packet driver that automatically adds and strips the prepend header to allow software processing of standard Ethernet packets.
As with the two SPI4 ports on the routing CLDs 102B, ingress traffic to the control processor should be load balanced across the two 10 Gbps Ethernet channels connecting the routing CLDs 102B and the INTEL 82599. The load balancing may operate in the same manner as that described above in the context of the SPI4 ports, based on a hash value. However, the routing process is more complicated. An ingress packet arriving at the routing CLD 102B illustrated in
In certain applications, the complexity of logic to be offloaded from a processors to a CLD becomes too great to efficiently implement in a single CLD. Internal device congestion prevents the device from processing traffic at line rates. Further, as the device utilization increases, development time increases much faster than a linear fashion as development tools employ more sophisticated layout techniques and spend more time optimizing. Traditional design approaches suggest solving this problem by selecting a more complex and capable CLD part that will provide excess capacity. Fewer components often reduces overall design and manufacturing costs even if more complex parts are individually more expensive.
In contrast, certain embodiments of the present invention take a different approach and span functionality across multiple CLDs in a careful deintegration of functionality. This deintegration is possible with careful separation of functions and through the use of low latency, high-throughput interconnections between CLDs. In some embodiments, a proprietary bus (e.g., the ALTERA SERIALLITE bus) is used to connect two or more compatible CLD devices to communicate with latencies and throughput approximating that of each device's internal I/O channels. This approach is referred to herein as pipelining of CLD functionality. Pipelining enables independent design and development of each module and the increased availability of I/O pins at the cost of additional processing latency. However, certain applications are not sensitive to increased latency. Many network testing applications fall into this category where negative effects of processing latency can be effectively neutralized by time stamping packets as they arrive.
In the embodiments illustrated by
In certain embodiments, each network processor has a theoretical aggregate network connectivity of 22 Gbps. However, this connectivity is split between two 11 Gbps SPI4 interfaces (e.g., interfaces 122). The method of distributing traffic across the two interfaces is a critical design consideration as uneven distribution would result in a significant reduction in the achieved aggregate throughput. For example, statically assigning a physical network interface (e.g., interface 101) to an SPI4 interface may not allow a single network processor to fully saturate a physical interface with generated network traffic. In another example, in some applications it is desirable to have a single network processor saturate two physical network interfaces. The user should not need to worry about internal device topologies in configuring such an application. Another core design constraint is the need to maintain packet ordering for many applications.
In some embodiments, software on a network processor assigns SPI4 interfaces to processor cores in the network processor such that all egress packets are sent on the assigned SPI4 interface. In some embodiments, processor cores with an odd number send data on SPI4-1 while those with an even number send data on SPI4-0. A simple bit mask operation can be used to implement this approach: SPI4 Interface—CORE ID & 0x1. This approach could be scaled to processors with additional SPI4 ports using a modulus function.
In certain embodiments, ingress packets are routed through specific SPI4 interfaces based on the output of an appropriate hashing algorithm, for example the jhash algorithm described below. In some embodiments, the source and destination addresses of the ingress packet are input into the hashing algorithm.
In situations where the hashing algorithm varies based on the order of the input, it may be desirable to route packets between the same two hosts to the same interface on the network processor. For example, the network testing device may be configured to quietly observe network traffic between two devices in a “bump in the line” configuration. In this scenario, the routing CLD may first numerically sort the source and destination address (along with any other values input into the hash function) to ensure that the same hash value is generated regardless of which direction the network traffic is flowing.
In certain embodiments, offload/capture CLDs 102A are configured to capture and store packets received on interfaces 101 in capture memory 103A. Packets may be captured to keep a verbatim record of all communications for later analysis or direct retrieval. Captured packets may be recorded in a standard format, e.g., the PCAP format, or with sufficient information to enable later export to a standard format.
With modern data rates on the order of 10 Gbps, packet capture may consume a significant amount of memory in a very short window of time. In certain embodiments, the packet capture facility of offload/capture CLDs 102A may be configurable to conserve memory and focus resources. In some embodiments, the packet capture facility may capture a limited window of all received packets, e.g., through the use of a circular capture memory described below. In certain embodiments, the packet capture facility may incorporate triggers to start and stop the capture process based on certain data characteristics of the received packets.
In some embodiments, offload/capture CLDs 102A verify one or more checksum values on each ingress packet. The result of that verification may be used to set one or more flags in the prepend header, as discussed elsewhere in this disclosure. Examples of checksums include the layer 2 Ethernet checksum, layer 3 IP checksum, layer 4 TCP checksum, and IPv6 tunneling checksum. Erroneous packets may be captured in order to isolate and diagnose the source of erroneous traffic.
In some embodiments, offload/capture CLDs 102A may apply a set of rules against each ingress packet. For example, packet sizes may be monitored to look for abnormal distributions of large or small packets. An abnormal number of minimum size or maximum size packets may signal erroneous data or a denial of service attack. Packet types may be monitored to look for abnormal distributions of layer 4 traffic. For example, a high percentage of TCP connection setup traffic may indicate a possible denial of service attack. In another example, a particular packet type, e.g, an address resolution protocol packet or a TCP connection setup packet, may trigger packet capture in order to analyze and/or record logical events.
In some embodiments, offload/capture CLDs 102A may include a state machine to enable capture of a set of packets based on a event trigger. This state machine may begin capturing packets when triggered by one or more rules described above. The state machine may discontinue capturing packets after capturing a threshold number of packets, at the end of a threshold window of elapsed time, and/or at when triggered by a rule. In some embodiments, offload/capture (e.g., by adding fields in the packet header) CLDs 102A may capture all ingress traffic into a circular buffer, and rules may be used to flag captured packets for later retrieval and analysis. In certain embodiments, a triggering event may cause the state machine to walk back through the capture buffer to retrieve a specified number or time window of captured packets to allow later analysis of the events leading up to the triggering event.
In certain embodiments, offload/capture CLDs 102A may keep a record of triggering events external to the packet capture data for later use in navigating the packet capture data. This external data may operate as an index into the packet capture data (e.g., with pointers into that data).
Existing packet capture devices typically set aside a fixed number of bytes for each packet (16 KB for example). This is very inefficient if the majority of the packets are 64B since most of the memory is left unfilled. The present disclosure is of a more efficient design in which each packet is stored in specific form of a linked list. Each packet will only use the amount of memory required, and the link will point to the next memory address whereby memory is packed with network data and no memory wasted. This allows the storage of more packets with the same amount of memory.
In some embodiments, capture/offload CLDs 102A implement a circular capture buffer capable of capturing ingress/egress packets storing each in memory 103A. Some embodiments are capable of capturing ingress and/or egress packets at line rate. In some embodiments, memory 103A is subdivided into individual banks and each bank is assigned to an external network interface 101. In certain embodiments, network interface ports 101 are configured to operate at 10 Gbps and each port is assigned to a DDR2 memory interface. In certain embodiments, network interface ports 101 are configured to operate at 1 Gbps and two ports are assigned to each DDR2 memory interface. In these embodiments, the memory may be subdivided into two ranges exclusive to each port.
Circular Buffer/Packet Description
Below is a more detailed description of the data format of packet data in memory 103A, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. Packet data is written to memory 102A with a prepend header. The data layout for the first 32 Bytes of a packet captured in memory 103A may contain 16 bytes of prepended header information and 16 bytes of packet data. Subsequent 32 byte blocks are written in a continuous manner (wrapping to address 0x0 if necessary) until the entire packet has been captured. The last 32 byte block may be padded if the packet length (minus 16 bytes in the first block) is not an integer multiple of 32 bytes:
In certain embodiments, the following algorithm describes the process of capturing packet data. As a packet arrives at offload/capture CLD 102A via internal interface 602, decisional logic 604A determines whether or not to capture the packet in memory 103A. This decision may be based on a number of factors, as discussed elsewhere in this disclosure. For example, packet capture could be manually enabled for a specific window of time or could be triggered by the occurrence of an event (e.g., a packet with an erroneous checksum value). In some embodiments, packet capture is enabled by setting a specific bit in the memory of CLD 102A. If the packet is to be captured, the packet is stored locally in egress FIFO 606A. A similar process applies to packets arriving at external interface 101, though decisional logic 604B will store captured ingress packets in ingress FIFO 606B. In each case, other processing may occur after the packet arrives and before the packet is copied into the FIFO memory. Specifically, information may be added to the packet (e.g., in a prepend header) such as an arrival timestamp and flags indicating the validity of one or more checksum values.
Buffer logic 610 moves packets from FIFOs 606A and 606B to memory 103A. Buffer logic 610 prioritizes the deepest FIFO to avoid a FIFO overflow. To illustrate the operation of buffer logic 610, consider the operation when packet capture is first enabled. In this initial state, both FIFOs are empty, tail pointer 612 is set to address 0x0, and memory 103A has uniform value of 0x0. In embodiments where memory 103A may have an initial value other than zero, capture/offload CLD 102A may store additional information indicating an empty circular buffer. Assume that packet capture is enabled.
At this time, an ingress packet arrives at external interface 101 and is associated with an arrival timestamp and flags indicating checksum success. Ingress decisional logic 604B creates the packet capture prepend header (the first 16 bytes of data described above) copies the packet with its prepend header into FIFO 606B. Next, buffer logic 610 copies the packet to the location 0x0, as this is the first packet stored in the buffer. In certain embodiments, memory 103A is DDR2 RAM, which has an effective minimum transfer unit of 256 bits, or 32 Bytes. In these embodiments, the packet is copied in 32 Byte units and the last unit may be padded.
When another ingress packet arrives at external interface 101, ingress decisional logic 604B follows the same steps and copies the packet with its prepend header into FIFO 606B. Next, buffer logic 610 determines that tail pointer 612 points to a valid packet record. The value of tail pointer 612 is copied into the prepend header of the current packet (e.g., at Data[91:64]) and tail pointer 612 is set to the address of the first empty block of memory 102B and buffer logic 610 copies the current packet to memory 103A starting at the address specified by tail pointer 612.
In certain embodiments, ingress packets are linked separately from egress packets as separate “threads” in the circular buffer. In these embodiments, at least one additional pointer will be maintained in CLD 102A in addition to tail pointer 610 to allow buffer logic 610 to maintain linkage for both threads. In particular, if the buffer is not empty, tail pointer 612 points to a packet of a particular thread type (e.g., ingress or egress). If a new packet to be stored of the same thread type, the tail pointer may be used to set the previous packet pointer in the new packet to be stored. If the new packet to be stored is of a different thread type, buffer logic 610 will reference a stored pointer to the last packet of the different thread type to set the previous packet pointer value on the new packet to be stored, but will still store the new packet after the packet identified by tail pointer 612.
Trigger Programming
In some embodiments, capture/offload CLD 102A may have three logic layers of trigger programming. The first layer may allow up to five combinatorial inverted or non-inverted inputs of any combination of VLAN ID, source/destination IP address, and source/destination port address to a single logic gate. All bits may be maskable in each of the five fields to allow triggering on address ranges.
The first level may have four logic gates. Each of the four logic gates may be individually programmed to be a OR, NOR, or AND gate. The IP addresses may be programmed to trigger on either IPV4 or IPV6 packets. The second level may have two gates and allow the combination of non-inverted inputs from the four first layer gates. These two second level gates may be individually programmed for an OR, NOR, or AND gate. The third level logic may be a single gate that allows the combination of non-inverted inputs from the four first layer gates and the two second level gates. This third level may be programmed for OR, NOR, or AND gate logic.
The logic may also allow for triggering on frame check sequence (FCS) errors, IP checksum errors, and UDP/TCP checksum errors.
Buffer Rewind
In some embodiments, CLD 102A may include rewind logic (e.g., as part of buffer logic 610) to generate a forward linked list in the process of generating a properly formatted PCAP file. This rewind logic is preferably implemented in CLD 102A due to its direct connection to memory 103A. The rewind logic, when triggered, may perform an algorithm such as the following, written in pseudo code:
The rewind logic walks backward through the list starting at the tail, and changes each packet's previous pointer to be a next pointer, thus creating a forward linked list. Once completed, the variable cur points to the head of a forward-linked list that may be copied to drive 109 for persistent storage. Because the address 0x0 is a valid address, there is no value in checking for NULL pointers. Instead, buffer logic 610 should be careful to not copy any entries after the last entry, identified by tail pointer 612.
In some embodiments, network testing system 16 may provide data loopback functionality, e.g., to isolate connectivity issues when configuring test environments.
Scenario 636 provides a general illustration of an external loopback implemented outside a device, e.g., to isolate that device from network traffic. In this arrangement, data from an external source is looped back toward the external source or another external target, without entering the device. In some embodiments, system 16 may implement such external loopback functionality in addition to virtual wire internal loopback and/or physical wire internal loopback functionality discussed above.
In particular embodiments, system 16 provides internal loopback (virtual wire and/or physical wire loopback) and external loopback functionality, in combination with packet capture functionality, in a flexible configuration manner to enable analysis of internal or external traffic for comparison, analysis and troubleshooting (e.g., for latency analysis, timestamp zeroing, etc.).
Arrangement 642 illustrates an external loopback with capture buffer enabled. In this arrangement, the network testing system becomes a transparent packet sniffer. All traffic can be captured as shown
In some embodiments, network testing system 16 may include a loopback and capture system 650 configured to provide virtual wire internal loopback (and may also allow physical wire internal loopback) and external loopback, in combination with data capture functionality.
As shown in
Loopback management module 652 may be configured to send control signals to capture/offload FPGA 102a to control loopback logic 654 to enable/disable an internal loopback mode and to enable/disable an external loopback mode, and to capture logic 520 to enable/disable data capture in buffer 103A. Such instructions from loopback management module 652 may be generated automatically (e.g., by control processor 106) and/or manually from a user (e.g., via a user interface of system 16). Thus, a user (e.g., a developer) may control system 650 to place system 16 (or at least a relevant card 54) in an internal loopback mode, an external loopback mode, or a “normal” mode (i.e., no loopback), as desired for various purposes, e.g., to execute a simulated test scenario, analyze system latency, calibrate a timestamp function, etc.
Thus, loopback logic 654 may be configured to control the routing of data entering capture/offload FPGA 102a to enable/disable the desired loopback arrangement. For example, with virtual wire internal loopback mode enabled, loopback logic 654 may receive outbound data from network processor 105 and reroute such data back to network processor 105 (or to other internal components of system 16), while capture logic 520 may store a copy of the data in capture buffer 103A if data capture is enabled. The data routing for such virtual wire internal loopback is indicated in the upper portion of
In some embodiments, loopback logic 654 may simulate a physical wire internal loopback, at least from the perspective of network processor 105, for a virtual wire internal loopback scenario.
To implement port lookup table 656, with reference to
Internal loopback mode (virtual or physical cable based) may be used for various purposes. For example, latency associated with system 16 and/or an external system (e.g., test system 18) may be analyzed by sending and receiving data using system 16 with internal loopback mode disabled and measuring the associated latency, sending and receiving data using system 16 with internal loopback mode enabled and measuring the associated latency, and comparing the two measured latencies to determine the extent of the overall latency that is internal to system 16 versus external to system 16. As another example, internal loopback mode (virtual or physical cable based) may be used to calibrate a timestamp feature of system 16, e.g., to account for inherent internal latency of system 16. In one embodiment, system 16 uses a 10 nanosecond timestamp, and system 650 may use internal loopback to calibrate, or “zero,” the timestamp timing to 1/10 of a nanosecond. The zeroing process may be used to measure the internal latency and calibrate the process such that the timestamp measures the actual external arrival time rather than the time the packet propagates through to the timestamp logic. This may be implemented, for example, by enabling the internal loopback mode and packet capture. When an egress packet arrives at capture/offload CLD 102A, the packet is time stamped and captured into packet capture buffer 350. The egress packet is then converted by the internal loopback logic into an ingress packet and time stamped on “arrival.” The time-stamped ingress packet is also stored in packet capture buffer 350. The difference in time stamps between the egress and ingress packet is the measure of internal round-trip latency. This ability to measure internal latency can be especially valuable for configurable logic devices, where an image change may alter the internal latency.
As discussed above, loopback and capture system 650 may also provide external loopback functionality. That is, loopback management module 652 may instruct loopback logic 654 to route data received on one port (e.g., port 0) back out over another port (e.g., port 1) instead of forwarding such data into system 16 (e.g., to network processor 105, etc.), as indicated in
Standard implementations of hash tables map a single key domain to a value or set of values, depending on how collisions are treated. Certain applications benefit from a hash table implementation with multiple co-existent key domains. For example, when tracking network device statistics some statistics may be collected with visibility only into the IP address of a device while others may be collected with visibility only into the Ethernet address of that device. Another example application is a host identification table that allows location of a host device record by IP address, Ethernet address, or an internal identification number. A hash table with N key domains is mathematically described as follows:
An additional requirement is needed to ensure the above model represents a single hash table with N key domains instead of simply N hash tables that use the same value range:
Standard hash table implementations organize data internally so that an entry can only be accessed with a single key. Various approaches exist to extend the standard implementation to support multiple key domains. One approach uses indirection and stores a reference to the value in the hash table instead of the actual value. The model becomes this:
In this model R is the set of indirect references to values in V, and a lookup operation returns an indirect reference to the actual value, which is stored externally to the hash table. This approach has a negative impact on performance and usability. Performance degradation results from the extra memory load and store operations required to access the entry through the indirect reference. Usability becomes a challenge in multithreaded environments because it is difficult to efficiently safeguard the hash table from concurrent access due to the indirect references.
Certain embodiments of the present disclosure support multiple independent key domains, avoid indirect references, and avoid the negative performance and usability impact associated with other designs that support multiple key domains. According to certain embodiments of the present invention, each hash table entry contains a precisely arranged set of links. Each link in the set is a link for a specific key domain. In some embodiments, a software macro is used to calculate the distance from each of the N links to the beginning of the containing entry. This allows the table to find the original object, much like a memory allocator finds the pointer to the head of a memory chunk. Defining the hash table automatically generates accessors to get the entry from any of N links inside the entry.
Bucket array 682 may be an array of pointers, e.g., 32 bit or 64 bit addresses, of length hash length. Bucket array entries 684a through 684c are identified as non-NULL entries, meaning that each contains a valid pointer to a linked list element in memory. Bucket array entry 684a contains a pointer to linked list element 686. Linked list element 686 contains a pointer, e.g., the List1, to the next element in the linked list, if any. In
Similar to bucket array entry 684a, entry 684b points to linked list element 686. However, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, entry 684b points to the List2 pointer in linked list element 686, which then points to element 690.
Accordingly, linked list element 686 may be located in the same hash table using two different key values without the use of indirection and without addition any additional storage overhead. Adding another key to the same hash table merely requires the addition of two field entries in the linked list element data structure: the list pointer and key value.
In some embodiments, this multikey hash table implementation relies on two or more sets of accessor functions. Each set of accessor functions includes at least an insert function and a lookup function. The lookup function for Key1 operates as illustrated in
In some embodiments, all sets of accessor functions use the same hash function. In other embodiments, one set of accessor functions uses a different hash function than a second set of accessor functions.
In certain embodiments, the accessor functions are generated programmatically using C/C++ style macros. The macros automatically handle the pointer manipulation needed to implement the pointer offsets needed for the second, third, and additional keys. A programmer need only reference the provided macros to add a new key to the hash table.
Segmentation
The transmission control protocol (TCP) is a standard internet protocol (e.g., first specified in request for comments (RFC) 675 published by the Internet Engineering Task Force in 1974). TCP generally aligns with Layer 4 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model of network abstraction layers and provides a reliable, stateful connection for networking applications. As an abstraction layer, TCP allows applications to create and send datagrams that are larger than the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the network route between the end points of the TCP connection. Networking systems support TCP by transparently (to the application) segmenting over-sized datagrams at the sending network device and reassembling the segments at the receiving device. When a TCP channel is requested by an application, a setup protocol is performed wherein messages are sent between the two end-point systems. Intermediate network nodes provide information during this process about the MTU for each link of the initial route that will be used. The smallest reported MTU is often selected to minimize intermediate segmentation.
Many network interface controllers (NICs) provide automatic segmentation of a large packet into smaller packets using specialized hardware prior to transmission of that data via an external network connection such as an Ethernet connection. The architecture of system 16 differs from typical network devices because network processors 105 share network interfaces 101 and are not directly assigned NICs with specialized segmentation offload hardware. Further, network processors 105 do not include built-in TCP segmentation offload hardware. In order to efficiently handle TCP traffic, the present disclosure provides a CLD-based solution that post-processes jumbo-packets generated by the network processor and splits those packets into multiple smaller packets as specified in the header of a packet.
In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, the network processor includes a prepend header to every egress packet. That prepend header passes processing information to offload/capture CLD 102A. Two fields in the prepend header provide instructions for TCP segmentation. The first is a 14 bit field that passes the packet length information in bytes (TCPsegLen). TCP lengths can in theory then be any length from a single byte to a max of 16 KB. The second field is a single bit that enables TCP segmentation (TCPsegEn) for a given a packet.
If the segmentation flag is set, segmentation logic 704 determines the segment length (e.g, by extracting the 14 bit TCPseglen field from the prepend header) and extracts the packet's IP and TCP headers at step 728. Segmentation logic 704 may also determine whether the packet is an IPv4 or IPv6 packet and may verify that the packet is a properly formed TCP packet.
At step 730, segmentation logic 704 generates a new packet 706 the size of the segment length and copies in the original packet's IP and TCP headers. Segmentation logic 704 may keep a segment counter and set a segment sequence number on new packet. Segmentation logic 704 may then fill the data payload of new packet 706 with data from the data payload portion of original packet 722. Segmentation logic 704 may update the IP and TCP length fields to reflect the segmented packet length and generate IP and TCP checksums.
Once new packet 706 has been generated, that packet may be added to a first in first out (FIFO) queue at step 732 for subsequent transmission via external interface 101. At step 734, segmentation logic 704 may determine whether any new packets are needed to transmit all of the data from original packet 702. If not, the process stops at step 736. If so, step 730 is repeated. At step 730, if less data remains than can fill the data portion of a packet of length segment length, a small packet may be generated rather than padding the remainder.
Assembly
When TCP packets arrive at system 16, they may arrive as segments of an original, larger TCP packet. These segments may arrive in sequence or may arrive out of order. While a CPU is capable of reassembling the segments, this activity consumes expensive interrupt processing time. Many operating systems are alerted to the arrival of a new packet when the NIC triggers an interrupt on the CPU. Interrupt handlers often run in a special protected mode on the processor and switching in and out of this protected mode may require expensive context switching processes. Conventional systems offload TCP segment reassembly to the network interface card (NIC). However, these solutions require shared memory access between the receiving processor and its network interface card (NIC). Specifically, some commercially-available NICs manipulate packet buffers in shared memory mapped between the host CPU and the NIC. System 16 has no memory shared memory between the network processor and routing CLD 102B. Furthermore, a conventional PCI bus and memory architecture does not provide sufficient bandwidth to enable reassembly at the line rates supported by system 16. In the present disclosure, a TCP reassembly engine is provided in a CLD between external interfaces 101 and the destination network processor. This reassembly engine forwards TCP segment “jumbograms” to the network processor rather than individual segmented packets. The operation of the reassembly engine can reduce the number of packets processed by the NP by a factor of 5, which frees up significant processing time for performing other tasks.
Network processor 105 may control the operation of assembly logic 744 by altering configuration parameters on the reassembly process. In some embodiments, network processor 105 may control the number of receive bucket partitions in memory 103B and/or the depth of each receive bucket partition. In certain embodiments, network processor 105 may selectively route certain packet flows through or around the assembly engine based on at least one of the subnet, VLAN, or port range.
If a match is found, the packet is added to the matching bucket (at step 772). Receive state machine may insert the new packet into linked list 748 in the appropriate ordered location based on the packet's TCP sequence number. Receive state machine also checks whether this newest packet completes the sequence for this TCP jumbogram (at step 774). If so, receive state machine sets the commit bit on the corresponding packet assembly record 746 (at step 776). If the newest packet does not complete the sequence (at step 778), receive state machine updates the corresponding packet assembly record 746 and stops.
If no matching packet assembly record 746 was found (at step 770), then, space permitting, receive state machine creates a new record (at step 780) and adds the received packet to the newly assigned reassembly bucket list (at step 782).
When a packet is being committed, the transmit state machine will set the lock bit on the packet assembly record marking it unavailable. If the packet is complete (at step 808), the transmit state machine will assemble (at step 810) a TCP jumbogram including the IP and TCP headers of, for example, the first packet in the sequence (after stripping out the TCP segmentation related fields), and the concatenated data portions of each segment packet. The transmit state machine (at step 812) adds the newly assembled TCP jumbogram to the transmit FIFO and clears the packet assembly record from memory 103B making it available for use by the receive state machine.
If the packet is not complete, but the current packet aged out or was forced out as the oldest packet in memory 103B, then transmit state machine (at step 814) may move each packet segment as-is to transmit FIFO 752 and clear out the corresponding packet assembly record.
On 64-bit systems pointers typically consume 8 bytes of computer memory (e.g., RAM). This is double the amount needed on 32-bit systems and can pose a challenge when migrating from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system.
Typical solutions to this problem include: increasing the amount of available memory, and rewriting the software application to reduce the number of pointers used in that application. The first solution listed above is not always possible. For example, when shipping software-only upgrades to hardware systems already deployed at customer sites. The second solutions can be cost prohibitive and may not reduce memory requirements enough to enable the use of 64-bit pointers.
The system of the present disclosure specially aligns the virtual memory offsets in the operating system so that virtual addresses all fall under the 32 GB mark. This means that for pointers, the upper 29 bits are always zero and only the lower 35 bits are needed to address the entire memory space. At the same time, the system aligns memory chunks to an 8-byte alignment. This ensures that the lower 3 bits of an address are also zero.
As a result of these two implementation details, it is possible to transform a 64-bit pointer to a 32-bit pointer by shifting right 3 bits, and discarding the upper 32-bits. To turn the compressed address back to a 64-bit real address, one simply shifts the 32-bit address left by 3 bytes and stores in a 64-bit variable. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may extend this approach to address 64 GB or 128 GB of memory by aligning memory chunks to 16 or 32-byte chunks, respectively.
In some embodiments, system 16 comprises a task management engine 840 configured to allocate resources to users and processes (e.g., tests or tasks) running on system 16, and in embodiments that include multiple network processors 105, to distribute such processes among the multiple network processors 105 to provide desired or maximized usage of resources.
Definitions of certain concepts may be helpful for a discussion of task management engine 840. A “user” refers to a human user that has invoked or wishes to invoke a “test” using system 16. One or more users may run one or more tests serially or in parallel on one or more network processors 105. A test may be defined as a collection of “tasks” (also called “components”) to be performed by system 16, which tasks may be defined by the user. Thus, a user may specify the two tasks “FTP simulation” and “telnet simulation” that define an example test “FTP and telnet simulation.” Some other example tasks may include SMTP simulation, SIP simulation, Yahoo IM simulation, HTTP simulation, SSH simulation, and Twitter simulation.
Each task (e.g., FTP simulation) may have a corresponding “task configuration” that specifies one or more performance parameters for performing the task. An example task configuration may specify two performance parameters: 50,000 sessions/second and 100,000 simulations. The task configuration for each task may be specified by the requesting user, e.g., by selecting values (e.g., 50,000 and 10,000) for one or more predefined parameters (e.g., sessions/second and number of simulations).
Some example performance parameters for a traffic simulation task are provided below:
Each task requires a fixed amount of “resources” to complete the task. A “resource” refers to any limited abstract quantity associated with a network processor 105, which can be given or taken away. Example resources include CPU resources (e.g., cores), memory resources, and network bandwidth. Each network processor 105 has a fixed set of resources.
A “port” refers to a test interface 101 to the test system 18 being tested. Thus, in example embodiments, a particular card 54 may have four or eight ports (i.e., interface 101) that may be assigned to user(s) by task management engine 840 for completing various tests.
In a conventional system, when test that requires certain resources is started, such resources may be available at the beginning of a test but then become unavailable at some point during the test run, e.g., due to other tests (e.g., from other users) being initiated during the test run. This may be particularly common during long running tests. When this situation occurs, the test may have to be stopped or paused, as the required resources for continuing the test are no longer available. Thus, it may be desirable to pre-allocate resources for each user so that it can be determined before starting a particular test if the particular test can run to completion without interruption. Thus, task management engine 840 may be programmed to allocate resources to users and/or processes (tests and components thereof (i.e., tasks)) before such processes are initiated, to avoid or reduce the likelihood of such processes being interrupted or cancelled due to lack of resources.
Allocation of Resources to Users
In some embodiments, task management engine 840 is programmed to allocate resources to users based on a set of rules and algorithms (embodied in software and/or firmware accessible by task management engine 840). In a particular embodiment, such rules and algorithms specify the following:
Rules:
1. Each user is allowed to reserve one or more ports 101 on a board 54.
2. Only one user may reserve any given port 101.
3. The resources on a particular board 54 allocated to each user correspond to the number of ports 101 on the board 54 allocated to/reserved by that user.
4. If all ports 101 on a board 54 are allocated to/reserved by a particular user, then all resources of that board 54 allocated to/reserved by that user. For example, if a user reserves 2 of 8 ports on a board, then 25% of all resources of that board are allocated to that user.
In view of these rules, task management engine 840 is programmed with the following algorithm for allocating the resources of a board 54 to one or more users.
Givens:
Algorithm:
The algorithm getMaxResourceUtilization( ) computes the amount of each resource “r” available to a given user. The total amount of any given resource “r” will be the sum of that resource “r” across all network processors 105 on the board 54. Thus, the algorithm getMaxResourceUtilization( ) returns an array “UR(u,r)” where “r” is a member of “K” and “u” is a member of “U”. Each element of the array represents the amount of the resource available to the user. The algorithm is as follows:
At step 856, task management engine 840 may assign resources of network processors 105 to users based on the number of ports 101 assigned to each user by executing algorithm getMaxResourceUtilization( ) discussed above. As discussed above, task management engine 840 may assign the total quantity of each type of network processor resource to users on a pro rata basis, based on the number of ports assigned to each user. For example, if a user reserves 3 of 4 ports on a board, then 75% of each type of resource is assigned to that user.
Distribution of Tasks Across Network Processors
As discussed above, in some embodiments task management engine 840 is further programmed to distribute tasks (i.e., components of tests) among the multiple network processors 105 of system 16 to provide desired or maximized usage of resources, and to determine whether a particular test proposed or requested by a particular user can be added to the currently running tests on system 16. In particular, task management engine 840 may be programmed to distribute tasks based on a set of rules and algorithms (embodied in software and/or firmware accessible by task management engine 840). For example, such rules and algorithms specify the following:
Rules:
1. Each test is divided into tasks (also called components) that run in parallel.
2. Each task runs on a particular board 54 depending on the ports 101 used by that task.
3. A task may not span more than one board 54.
4. Each task will consume a fixed quantity of resources “r.”
5. Each task on a board 54 will be assigned a particular network processor 105 based on the resource usage of that task and the resources on that board 54 allocated to the user.
In view of these rules, task management engine 840 is programmed with the following algorithm for allocating the resources of a board 54 to one or more users.
Givens:
The following table defines and provides examples for the variables used in the task distribution algorithm addRunningTest( ):
Algorithm:
The algorithm addRunningTest( ) determines whether to add (and if so, adds) a proposed test to a list of currently running tests on system 16. The algorithm addRunningTest( ) assumes that the resources used by the running tests do not exceed the total resources available on system 16. The algorithm first determines all resources consumed by running tests on system 16. The algorithm then determines whether it is possible to add all of the tasks of the test to one or more network processors 105 without exceeding (a) any quotas placed on the user (e.g., as specified for the user in the user resource allocation array UR(u,r) determined as described above), or (b) the maximum resources available to the relevant network processor(s) 105.
If it is impossible to add any task of the proposed test to any network processor based on the conditions discussed above, the algorithm determines not to add the test to the set of tasks running on system 16, and notifies the user that the test cannot be run. Otherwise, if all tasks of the proposed test can be added to system 16, the test is added to the list of running tests, and the tasks are assigned to their specified network processor(s) 105, as determined by the algorithm.
The algorithm is as follows:
In one embodiment, the user may define the proposed new test by (a) selecting one or more tasks to be included in the new test, e.g., by selecting from a predefined set of task types displayed by engine 840 (e.g., FTP simulation, telnet simulation, SMTP simulation, SIP simulation, Yahoo IM simulation, HTTP simulation, SSH simulation, and Twitter simulation, etc.), and (b) for each selected task, specifying one or more performance parameters, e.g., by selecting any of the example performance parameter categories listed above (Data Rate Unlimited, Data Rate Scope, Data Rate Unit, Data Rate Type, Minimum/Maximum data rate, Ramp Up Behavior, etc.) and entering or selecting a setting or value for each selected performance parameter category. Thus, for a telnet simulation tasks, the user may define the performance parameters of 50,000 sessions/second and 100,000 simulations.
At step 874, engine 840 may determine the amount of each type of network processor resource “r” required for achieving the performance parameters defined (in the relevant task configuration) for each task of the proposed new test, indicated as X(nt,c,r) in the algorithm above. For example, for a particular task of the new test, engine 840 may determine that the task requires 20% of the total CPU resources of network processors 105, 25% of the total memory resources of network processors 105, and 5% of the total network bandwidth resources of network processors 105. Engine 840 may determine the required amount of each type of network processor resource “r” in any suitable manner, e.g., based on empirical test data defining correlations between particular test performance parameters can empirically determined network processor resource quantities used by the relevant network processor(s) for achieving the particular performance parameters. In some instances, engine 840 may interpolate/extrapolate or otherwise analyze such empirical test data to determine the network processor resources X(nt,c,r) required for achieving the performance parameters of the particular task of the new test. In some embodiments, engine 840 may notify the user of the required network processor resources determined at step 874.
Task management engine 840 may then execute the addRunningTest(nt) algorithm disclosed above or other suitable algorithm to determine whether the proposed new test can be added to the set of currently running tests on system 16 (i.e., whether all tasks of the proposed new test can be added to system 16). At step 876, engine 840 may determine the current resources available to each user (or at least the current resources available to the requesting user) and the current resources available to each network processor, e.g., by executing algorithm module 860 shown in
At step 878, engine 840 may determine whether any of the tasks of the proposed new test would exceed the current resources available to the requesting user, e.g., by executing algorithm module 862 shown in
At step 884, if algorithm module 864 determines that the network processors can accommodate all tasks of the proposed new test, engine 840 assign the tasks of the proposed new task to one or more network processors 105, e.g., by executing algorithm module 866 shown in
In some embodiments, network testing system 16 may perform statistical analysis of received network traffic in order to measure the quality of service provided under a given test scenario. One measure of quality of service is network performance measured in terms of bandwidth, or the total volume of data that can pass through the network, and latency (i.e., the delay involved in passing that data over the network). Each data packet passing through a network will experience its own specific latency based on the amount of work involved in transmitting that packet and based on the timing of its transmission relative to other events in the system. Because of the huge number of packets transmitted on a typical network, measurement of latency may be represented using statistical methods. Latency in network simulation may be expressed in abstract terms characterizing the minimum, maximum, and average measured value. More granular statistical analysis may be difficult to obtain due to the large number of data points involved and the rate at which new data points are acquired.
In some embodiments, a network message may be comprised of multiple network packets and measurement may focus on the complete assembled message as received. In some testing scenarios, the focus of the analysis may be on individual network packets while other testing scenarios may focus on entire messages. For the purposes of this disclosure, the term network message will be used to refer to a network message that may be fragmented into one or more packets unless otherwise indicated.
This aspect of the network testing system focuses on the measurement of and visibility into the latency observed in the lab environment. The reporting period may be subdivided into smaller periodic windows to illustrate trends over time. A standard deviation of measured latencies may be measured and reported within each measurement window. Counts tracking how many packets fall within each of a set of latency ranges may be kept over a set of standard-deviation-sized intervals. Latency boundaries of ranges may be modified for one or more subsequent intervals, based at least in part on the average and standard deviation measured in the previous interval. Where these enhanced measurements are taken during a simulation, they may be presented to a user to illustrate how network latency was affected over time by events within the simulation.
Average
In certain embodiments, each packet transmitted has a timestamp embedded in it. When the packet is received, the time of receipt may be compared against the transmit time to calculate a latency. A count of packets and a running total of all latency measurements may be kept over the course of a single interval. At the end of the measurement interval, an average latency value may be calculated by dividing the running total by the count from that interval, and the count and sum may be reset to zero to begin the next interval. In some embodiments, a separate counter may be kept to count all incoming packets and may be used to determine the average latency value.
Standard Deviation
For a subset of the packets (e.g., one out of every n packets, where n is a tunable parameter), the latency may be calculated as above, and a running sum of the latency of this subset may be kept. In addition, a running sum of the square of the latencies measured for this subset may be calculated. Limiting the calculation to a subset may avoid the problem of arithmetic overflow when calculating the sum of squares. At the end of each interval, the standard deviation over the measured packets may be calculated using the “sum of squares minus square of sums” method, or
In certain embodiments, a set of counters may be kept. A first pair of counters may represent latencies up to one standard deviation from the average, as measured in the previous measurement window. A second pair of counters may represent between one and two standard deviations from the average. A third pair of counters may represent two or more standard deviations from the average. Other arrangements of counters may be valuable. For example, additional counters may be provided to represent fractional standard deviation steps for a more granular view of the data. In another example, additional counters may be provided to represent three or four standard deviations away to capture the number of extreme latency events. In some embodiments, the focus of the analysis is on high latencies. In these embodiments, one counter may count all received packets with a latency in the range of zero units of time to one standard deviation above the average.
The counters may be maintained as follows. For each packet received, one of the counters is incremented based on the measured latency of that packet. At the end of each interval, the counts may be recorded (e.g., in a memory, database, or log) before the counters are reset. Also at the end of an interval, the boundaries between counters may be adjusted based on the new measured average and standard deviation.
In some embodiments, the interval length may be adjusted to adjust the frequency of measurement. For example, a series of short intervals may be used initially to calibrate the ongoing measurement and a series of longer intervals may be used to measure performance over time. In another example, long intervals may be used most of the time to reduce the amount of data gathered with short intervals interspersed regularly or randomly to observe potentially anomalous behavior. In yet another example, the interval length may be adjusted based on an internal or external trigger.
In some embodiments, the counters may be implemented within the capture/offload CLDs 102A. Locating the counters and necessary logic with CLDs 102A ensures maximal throughput of the statistical processing system and maximal precision without the possibility of side effects due to internal transfer delays between components within the network testing system.
Process 922 continues for a specified interval of time (e.g., one second). In process 922, a responsive network message is received at step 924 and stamped with a high-resolution clock value indicating a time of receipt. This responsive network message is examined and information is extracted that may be used to determine a when a corresponding outbound network message was sent. In some embodiments, the responsive network message includes a timestamp indicating when the corresponding outbound network message was sent. In other embodiments, a serial number or other unique identifier may be used to lookup a timestamp from a database indicating when the corresponding outbound network message was sent. At step 926, the latency is calculated by subtracting the sent timestamp of the outbound network message from the receipt timestamp.
At step 928, the latency is compared against a series of one or more threshold values to determine which bucket should be incremented. Each bucket is a counter or tally of the number of packets received with a latency falling within the range for that bucket. In certain embodiments, the threshold values are represented as a max/min pair of latency values representing the range of values associated with a particular bucket. The series of buckets forms a non-overlapping, but continuous range of latency values. In the example illustrated in
At the end of the time interval, process 932 stores the current statistics and adjusts the threshold values to better reflect the observed variation in latencies. First, the current latency counts and latency threshold range information is stored at step 934 for later retrieval by a reporting tool or other analytical software. In some embodiments, the information stored at this step includes all of the information in
In some embodiments, step 936 adjusts the threshold latency values to fit a bell curve to the data of the most recently captured data. In this process, the total received message count (maintained independently or calculated by summing the tallies in each bucket) and the total latency are used to calculate the average latency, or center of the bell curve. Then, the sum of squares value is used in combination with the average latency to determine the value of a latency that is one standard deviation away from the average. With the average and standard deviation known, the threshold ranges may be calculated to be: zero to less than two standard deviations below the average, two standard deviations to less than one standard deviations below the average, one standard deviation below to less than one standard deviation above, one standard deviation above to less than two standard deviations above the average, and two standard deviations above the average to infinity. Finally, the total latency and total sum of squares latency values are zeroed at step 938.
In embodiments where the threshold latency values do not encompass all possible latency values, outliers may be completely ignored, or may be used to only calculate the new threshold latency values. In the former case, step 930 will be skipped for each outlier message so as not to skew the average and standard deviation calculation. In the latter case, a running tally of all received messages is necessary and step 930 will be performed on all received messages.
Serial ports on various processors in system 16 may need to be accessed during manufacturing and/or system debug phases. In conventional single-processor systems, serial port access to the processor is typically achieved by physically removing the board from the chassis and connecting a serial cable to an on-board connector. However, this may hinder debug ability by requiring the board to be removed to attach the connector, possibly clearing the fault on the board before the processor can even be accessed. Further, for multi-processor boards of various embodiments of system 16, the conventional access technique would require separate cables for each processor. This may cause increased complexity in the manufacturing setup and/or require operator intervention during the test, each of which may lengthen the test time and incur additional per board costs. Thus, system 16 incorporates a serial port access system 950 that provides serial access to any processor on any card 54 in system 16 without having to remove any cards 54 from chassis 50.
The crossbar switch 962 on each card 54 may comprise an “any-to-any” switch connected to all serial ports on the respective card 54. As shown in
An MLVDS (Multipoint LVDS) shared bus runs across the multi-blade chassis backplane 56 and allows connectivity to the crossbar switch 962 in the CPLD 123 of each other card 54 in the chassis 50. Thus, serial port access system 950 allows access to serial ports on the same blade 54 (referred to as intra-blade serial connections), as well as to serial ports on other blades 54 in the chassis 50 via the MLVDS shared bus (referred to as inter-blade serial connections).
In addition to setting the registers on the CPLD 123 on the local blade 54, control processor 106 sends a message to the local management microcontroller 954 at step 986 to initiate an I2C-based signaling for setting the CPLD crossbar switch 962 on the second blade as follows. At step 988, the management microcontroller 954 uses it's I2C connectivity to the other blades 54 in the system to write to an I2C I/O expander 956 on the second blade 54 involved in the serial connection (i.e., the blade housing the target device). For example, the management microcontroller 954 sets 4 bits of data out of the I/O expander 956 on the second blade 54 that are read by the local CPLD 123. Based on these 4 bits of data, CPLD 123 on the second blade 54 sets the local crossbar configuration registers to connect the backplane serial MLVDS connection 952 on the second blade with the target device on the second blade at step 990. This creates a direct serial connection between the requesting device on the first blade and the target device on the second blade via the MLVDS serial bus bridging the two blades.
Thus, serial port access system 950 (a) provides each processor in system 16 direct serial access each other processor in system 16, and (b) provides a user direct serial access to any processor in system 16, either by way of control processor 106 or via external RS-232 serial port 966. If control processor 106 has booted and is functioning properly, a user can access any processor in system 16 by way of the control processor 106 acting as a control proxy, e.g., according to the method 970 of
Alternatively, a user can access any processor in system 16 via physical connection to external RS-232 serial port 966 at the front of chassis 50. For example, a user may connect to external RS-232 serial port 966 when control processors 106 of system 16 are malfunctioning, not booted, or otherwise inaccessible or inoperative. Serial ports are primitive peripherals that allow basic access even if EEPROMs or other memory devices in the system are malfunctioning or inoperative. In addition, CPLD 123 is booted by its own internal flash memory program 960 and accepts RS-232 signaling/commands, such that crossbar switch 962 in CPLD 123 may be booted and operational even when control processors 106 and/or other devices of system 16 are malfunctioning, not booted, or otherwise inaccessible or inoperative. As another example, a user may connect a debug device or system to external RS-232 serial port 966 for external debugging of devices within system 16.
Thus, based on the above, serial port access system 950 including crossbar switch 962 allows single point serial access to all processors in a multi-blade system 16, and thus allows debugging without specialized connections to system 16.
System 16 includes multiple programmable devices 1002 (e.g., microcontrollers) that must be programmed before each can perform its assigned task(s). One mechanism for programming a device 1002 is to connect it to a non-transient programmable memory (e.g., EEPROM or Flash) such that device 1002 will read programming instructions from that memory on power-up. This implementation requires a separate non-transient programmable memory per device 1002, which may significantly increase the part count and board complexity. In addition, a software update must be written to each of these non-transient programmable memories. This memory update process, often called “flashing” the memory, adds further design complexity and, if interrupted, may result in a non-functioning device.
Instead of associating each programmable device 1002 with its own memory, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication channel between control processor 106 and at least some devices 1002 through which processor 106 can program each device 1002 from device images 1004 stored on drive 109. In these embodiments, updating a program for a device 1002 may be performed by updating a file on drive 109. In some embodiments, a universal serial bus (USB) connection forms the communication channel between control processor 106 and programmable devices 1002 through which each device 1002 may be programmed.
In an embodiment with one programmable device 1002, that device will automatically come out of reset and appear on the USB bus ready to be programmed. Control processor 106 will scan the USB bus for programmable devices 1002 and find one ready to be programmed. Once identified, control processor 106 will locate a corresponding image 1004 on drive 109 and will transfer the contents of image 1004 to device 1002, e.g., via a set of sequential memory transfers.
Certain embodiments require additional steps in order identify and program specific programmable devices 1002. The programmable devices are not pre-loaded with instructions or configuration information and each will appear identical as it comes out of reset, even though each must be programmed with a specific corresponding image 1004 in order to carry out functions assigned to that device within system 16. The USB protocol cannot be used to differentiate devices as it does not guarantee which order devices will be discovered or provide any other identifying information about those devices. As a result, control processor 106 cannot simply program devices 1002 as they are discovered because control processor 106 will not be able to identify the specific corresponding image 1004 associated with that device.
In one embodiment, each programmable device 1004 may be connected to an EEPROM or wired coding system (e.g., DIP switches or hardwired board traces encoding a device identifier) to provide minimal instructions or identification information. However, while this technique may enable device-specific programming, it involves initial pre-programming steps during the manufacturing process which may add time, complexity, and cost to the manufacturing process. Further, this technique may reduce the flexibility of the design precluding certain types of future software updates or complicating design reuse.
In some embodiments, system 16 includes a programmable device initiation system 1000 that uses one of the programmable devices 1002 (e.g., a USB connected microcontroller) as a reset master for the other programmable devices 1002, which allows the slave devices 1002 to be brought out of reset and uniquely identified by control processor 106 in a staggered manner, to ensure that each programmable device 1002 receives the proper software image 1004. These embodiments may eliminate the need for an EEPROM associated each USB device discussed above, and may thus eliminate the time and cost of pre-programming each EEPROM.
In some embodiments, master programmable device 1002 has outputs connected to reset lines for each of the slave programmable devices 1002 as illustrated in
At step 1028, control processor 106 releases the next programmable device from reset using reset signaling shown in
Programming Via USB Interface
Past designs have used different methods to program CLDs and have caused design and update issues:
Programming from local flash/EEPROM: This method programs the CLDs immediately on boot so the parts are ready very quickly, however it also requires individual flash/EEPROM parts at each CLD. Also, CLD design files have become quite large (e.g., greater than 16 MB), and that file size is increasing software update time by requiring as much as five minutes per CLD to overwrite each flash/EEPROM memory.
Programming via software through CPLDs: This is another standard method to use the Fast Parallel programming method for the CLDs. In this approach, software installed on a CPLD from internal flash memory initiates the programming during each boot process. Connectivity to the CPLD from the control processor can be an issue with limited options available. To use a PCI connection between control processor 106 and a CLD to be programmed, the CPLD must implement PCI cores, which consumes valuable logic blocks and requires a licensing fee. Other communication options require the use of specialized integrated circuits. Moreover, this approach requires complex parallel bus routing to connect the CPLD to each CLD to be programmed. Long multi-drop parallel busses need to be correctly routed with minimal stubs and the lengths need to be controlled to maintain signal integrity on the bus. Some embodiments have 5 FPGA's placed across an 11″×18″ printed computer board (PCB) resulting in long traces.
To enable fast, flexible programming of CLDs, an arrangement of components is utilized to provide software-based programming of CLDs controlled by control processor 106. In certain embodiments, one or more microcontrollers are provided to interface with the programming lines of CLDs (e.g., the Fast Parallel Programming bus on an FPGA). Those one or more microcontrollers are also connected to control processor 106 via a high speed serial bus (e.g., USB, IEEE 1394, THUNDERBOLT). The small size of the microcontroller combined with the simplified trace routing enabled by the serial bus allowed direct, high speed programming access without the need for long parallel bus lines. Furthermore, adding one or more additional microcontrollers could be accomplished with minimal negative impact to the board layout (due to minimal part size and wiring requirements) while allowing for further simplification of parallel bus routing.
In certain embodiments, two microcontrollers (e.g., Cypress FX2 USB Microcontrollers) are provided. One is positioned near two CLDs 102 on one side of the board, and the other is positioned on the opposite side of the board near the other three CLDs 102. This placement allows for short parallel bus connections to each CLD to help ensure signal integrity on those busses.
At step 1066, control processor 106 communicates with each microcontroller 1052 via CLD access logic to place the CLDs in programming mode. Microcontroller 1052 may perform this operation by driving one or more individual control signals to initiate a programming mode in one or more CLD 102. In some embodiments, microcontroller 1052 may program multiple CLD 102 simultaneously (e.g., with an identical image) by initiating a programming mode on each prior to transmitting a programming image. In some embodiments, microcontroller 1052 may program CLD 102 devices individually.
At step 1068, control processor 106 locates CLD image 1056 corresponding to the next CLD to program. Control processor 106 may locate the corresponding image file based on information hard-coded on one or more devices. In some embodiments, microcontrollers 1052 may have one or more pins hard-coded (e.g., tied high grounded by a pull-down resistor) to allow specific identification by control processor 106. In these embodiments, that identification information may be sufficient to allow control processor 106 to control a specific CLD 102 by driving a predetermined individual control signal line. In other embodiments, microcontrollers 1052 are programmed identically while CLDs 102 may have hard-coded pins to allow identification by the corresponding microcontroller 1052. In these embodiments, CLD access logic 1054 will include logic to control each CLD 102 individually in order to read the hard-coded pins and thereby identify that device by type (e.g., capture/offload CLD or L2/L3 CLD) or specifically (e.g., a specific CLD within system 16).
Once the corresponding CLD image has been identified, control processor 106 transfers the contents of that image (e.g., in appropriately sized sub-units) to microcontroller 1054 via the serial connection. Microcontroller 1054, via an individual control signal, initiates a programming mode on the CLD being programmed and loads image 1056 into the CLD via the shared parallel data bus.
At step 1070, control processor 106 determines whether another CLD 102 should be programmed and returns to step 1066 until all have been programmed.
The transfer speed of the serial bus (e.g., USB) is sufficiently fast to transfer even large (e.g., 16 MB) image files in a matter of seconds to each CLD. This programming arrangement also simplifies updates where replacing CLD image files 1056 on drive 109 will result in a CLD programming change after a restart. No complicated flashing (and verification) process is required.
Programming Via JTAG Bus
Any time flash memories or EEPROMs are updated through software there is a risk of corruption that may result in one or more non-functional devices. The present disclosure provides a reliable path to both program on-board devices such as CLD's as well as on-board memories (e.g., EEPROMs and flash memory). The present disclosure also provides a reliable path to recover from a corrupted image in most devices without rendering a board into a non-functional state (a.k.a., “bricking” a board). The present disclosure additionally provides a path for debugging individual devices.
In-system programming of all programmable devices on board is critical for field support and software upgrades. Past products did not have a good method for in system programming some devices and caused field returns when an update was needed or to recover from a corrupted device. The present disclosure provides a method to both update all chips as a part of the software upgrade process and to be able to recover from a corrupted image in an on-board memory device (e.g., EEPROM or flash).
In addition to image update and field support, the present disclosure also provides more convenient access to each CLD for in-system debug. Previous designs required boards be removed and cables attached to run the debug tools. The present disclosure provides in-place, in-system debug capability. This capability allows debugging of a condition that may be cleared by removing the board from the system.
To allow for both programming and CLD debug, the JTAG chain has been subdivided into two sections. The first section includes each CLD and the second section includes all other JTAG compatible devices in system 16. This division enables convenient access to and automatic recognition of ALTERA devices by certain ALTERA-supplied JTAG debug tools.
In certain embodiments, short chain 1092 provides JTAG access to the 5 FPGA's and 3 CPLD's on the board. This mode may be used to program the CPLD's on the board, to program the Flash devices attached to two CPLD's, and to run the ALTERA-supplied debug tools. The ALTERA tools are run through a software JTAG server interface. ALTERA tools running on a remote workstation may connect via a network connection to control processor 106 and access the JTAG controller. Control processor 106 may include a modified version of the standard LINUX URJTAG (Universal JTAG) program to enable CPLD and flash programming. Through that tool, control processor 106 may program the CPLD's, and through the programmed CPLD's, the tool can access each attached flash memory not directly connected to the JTAG bus. The flash memories may contain boot code for one or more network processors. Use of the JTAG bus to program these flash memories enables programming of the boot code without the processor running. Previous designs had to be pre-programmed and had the risk of “bricking” a system if a re-flash was interrupted. Recovery from such an interruption required a return of the entire board for lab repair. System 1080 allows the boot code to be programmed regardless of the state of the network processor allowing for in-field update and recovery.
When attached to the full chain (e.g., 1092 and 1094) the microcontroller has access to all the devices on the JTAG bus. The full chain may be used to program the Serial Flash containing the boot code for the networking switch 110 on the board. To program networking switch 110, the JTAG software on control processor 106 may control the pins of networking switch 110 to write out a new flash image indirectly.
As with many systems, drive 109 is a standard size and has a standard interface making it mechanically and electrically interchangeable with commodity hardware. However, not all drives have satisfactory performance and reliability characteristics. In particular, while a solid state device may provide sufficiently low access times and sufficiently high write throughput to maintain certain applications, a physically and electrically compatible 5,400 RPM magnetic drive might not. In some cases, high-volume purchasers of drives may purchase customized devices with manufacture supplied features for ensuring that only authorized drives are used within a system. To prevent users from operating system 16 with an unauthorized drive, control processor 106 may read certain information from drive 109 to verify that the drive is identified as an authorized drive.
In some embodiments, drive 109 may be partitioned into two logical units, hidden partition 1351, including branding information 1356, and data partition 1352. In some embodiments, hidden partition 1350 may be a drive partition formatted, for example, in a non-standard format. In certain embodiments, hidden partition 1351 may be a standard drive partition formatted as a simple, standard file system (e.g., FAT). In some embodiments, branding information 1356 may be a raw data written to a specific block on hidden partition 1351. In some embodiments, branding information 1356 may data written to a file on hidden partition 1350.
Data partition 1352 may be a standard drive partition formatted as a standard file system (e.g., FAT, ext2, NTFS) and may contain operating system and application software, CLD images, packet capture data, and other instructions and data required by system 16.
Branding process 1360 may include the following steps performed by a processor such as processor 106 on a second drive 109. At step 1361, software executing on processor 106 may read the drive serial number from read only memory 1350. At step 1362, that software may partition the drive into a hidden partition 1251 and a data partition 1352. At step 1363, the software may format hidden partition 1251. In some embodiments, step 1363 may be skipped if formatting is not required (e.g., where branding information 1356 is written as raw data to a specific block of partition 1351). At step 1364, the drive serial number is combined with secret information using a one-way function such as the jhash function or a cryptographic hash to obtain branding information 1356. At step 1365, branding information 1356 is written to hidden partition 1351. At this point, the drive will be recognized as authorized by system 16 and data partition 1352 may be formatted and loaded with an image of system 16.
Verification process 1370 may include the following steps performed by CPU 134. At step 1371, CPU 134 powers up and loads the basic input output system (BIOS) instructions stored in SPI EEPROM. At step 1372, CPU 134 accesses drive 109 and loads branding information 1356 and drive serial number 1355. At step 1373, CPU 134 verifies branding information 1356. In some embodiments, CPU 134 may apply a public key (which pairs with the private key used in step 1364) to decrypt branding information 1356. If the decrypted value matches serial number 1355, the drive may be recognized as authorized. In other embodiments, CPU 134 may combine serial number 1355 with the same secret used in step 1364 and in the same manner. If the result is the same as branding information 1356, the drive may be recognized as authorized.
If the drive is authorized, CPU 134 may begin to boot the operating system from partition 1352 at step 1374. If the drive is not authorized, CPU 134 may report an error at step 1375 and terminate the boot process. The error report may be lighting a light emitting diode (LED) on the control panel of system 16.
In some embodiments, verification process 1370 may be performed by software executed by the operating system as part of the operating system initialization process.
As discussed above, network testing system 16 may comprise one or more boards or cards 54 arranged in slots 52 defined by a chassis 50.
Heat dissipation presents significant challenges in some embodiments of system 16. For example, CLDs 102, processors 105 and 106, and management switch 110 may generate significant amounts of heat that need to be transferred away from system 16, e.g., out through openings in chassis 50. In some embodiments, limited free space and/or limited airflow within chassis 50 present a particular challenge. Further, in some embodiments of a multi-slot chassis 50, different slots 52 receive different amounts of air flow from one or more fans, and/or the physical dimensions of individual slots (e.g., the amount of free space above the card 54 in each respective slot 52) may differ from each other, the amount of volume and speed of air flow. Further, in some embodiments, the fan or fans within the chassis 50 tend to move air diagonally across the cards 54 rather than directly from side-to-side or front-to-back. Further, heat-generated by one or more components on a card 54 may transfer heat to other heat-generating components on the card 54 (e.g., by convection, or by conduction through the printed circuit board), thus further heating or resisting the cooling of such other heat-generating components on the card 54. Thus, each card 54 may include a heat dissipation system 1150 that incorporates a number of heat transfer solutions, including one or more fans, heat sinks, baffles or other air flow guide structures, and/or other heat transfer systems or structures.
Turning first to
Turning next to
As discussed below in greater detail, dual-body heat sink 1120 for removing heat from first network processor 105-1 includes a first heat sink portion 1130 arranged above the network processor 105 and a second heat sink portion 1132 physically removed from network processor 105 but connected to the first heat sink portion 1130 by a heat pipe 1134. Heat is transferred from the first heat sink portion 1130 to the second heat sink portion 1132 (i.e., away from network processor 105) via the heat pipe. As shown in
As shown in
In addition, first part 1202 of air baffle 1200 may include angled flaps or “wings” 1208 and 1210 configured to direct air flow above air baffle 1200 downwardly into and through the fins of heat sinks 1120 and 1122, respectively, to promote conductive heat transfer away from such heat sinks. As discussed below with reference to
Details of air baffle 1200 is discussed in more detail below with reference to
As discussed above, heat dissipation system 1150 of card 54 may include a dual-body heat sink 1120 that functions in cooperation with air baffle 1200 to dissipate heat from a network processor 105 (e.g., a Netlogic XLR 732 1.4 GHz processor).
First heat sink body 1130 is connected to the spaced-apart second heat sink body 1132 by a heat pipe 1134. As shown in
As shown, both heat pipes 1134 and 1152 interface with processor 105-1 via thermal interface area 1160. The co-planarity of this interface may be critical to adequate contact. Thus, the interface may be milled to a very tight tolerance. Further, in some embodiments, a phase change thermal material or other thermally-conductive material may be provided at the interface to ensure that heat sink body 1130 is bonded at the molecular level with processor 105-1. This material may ensures extremely high thermal connectivity between processor 105-1 and heat sink body 1130.
In this embodiment, each heat pipe is generally U-shaped, and is received in rectangular cross-section channels 1162 milled in heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132, except for the portion of pipe 1134 extending between first and second heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132. Each channel 1162 may be sized such that a bottom surface of each heat pipe 1134 and 1152 is substantially flush with bottom surfaces of heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132. Thus, heat pipes 1134 and 1152 are essentially embedded in heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132. Heat pipes 1134 and 1152 may have rounded edges. Thus, when heat pipes 1134 and 1152 are installed in channels 1162, gaps are formed between the walls of channels 1162 and the outer surfaces of heat pipes 1134 and 1152. Left empty, such gaps would reduce the surface area contact between the heat pipes and the heat sink bodies, as well as the contact between the heat pipes/heat sink and processor 105-1 at thermal interface area 1160, which may reduce the performance of processor 105-1. Thus, such gaps between the walls of channels 1162 and the outer surfaces of heat pipes 1134 and 1152 may be filled with a thermally conductive solder or other thermally conductive material to promote heat transfer between heat pipes 1134 and 1152 and heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132, and all bottom surfaces may then be machined flat, to provide a planar surface with a tight tolerance.
Heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132 and heat pipes 1134 and 1152 may be formed from any suitable thermally-conductive materials. For example, heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132 may be formed from copper, and heat pipes 1134 and 1152 may comprise copper heat pipes embedded in copper heat sink bodies 1130 and 1132.
Fins 1220 on bodies 1130 and 1132 may be designed to provide a desired or maximum amount of cooling for the given air flow and air pressure for the worst case slot 52 of the chassis 50. The thickness and spacing of fins 1220 may be important to the performance of heat sink 1120. Mounting of heat sink 1120 to card 54 may also be important. For example, thermal performance may be degraded if the pressure exerted on heat sink 1120 is not maintained at a specified value or within a specified range. In one embodiment, an optimal pressure may be derived by testing, and a four post spring-based system may be designed and implemented to attach heat sink 1120 to the PCB 380.
In some embodiments, fans in chassis 50 create a generally diagonal air flow though the chassis 50. Due to this diagonal airflow, as well as the relatively small cross section of cards 54 and “pre-heating” of processors caused by heat from adjacent processors, a special air baffle 1200 may be provided to work in conjunction with heat sink 1120 (and other aspects of heat dissipation system 1150), as discussed above. Air baffle 1200 has unique features with respect to cooling of electronic, and assists the cooling of other components of card 54, as discussed above with reference to
In some embodiments, management switch 110 generates large amounts of heat. For example, management switch 110 may generate more heat than any other device on card 54. Thus, aspects of heat dissipation system 1150, including the location of management switch 110 relative to other components of card 54, the design of heat sink 1128 coupled to management switch 110, and the design of air baffle 1200, may be designed to provide sufficient cooling of management switch 110 for reliable performance of switch 110 and other components of card 54.
As shown in
Further, as shown in
In one embodiment, shell 1202 is a sheet metal shell, and air deflector 1204 serves as a multi-vaned air deflector that creates specific channels for air to flow. The parts are assembled as shown in
Each wing 1210 and 1208 creates a low pressure area, which deflects a portion of the air flow above the sheet metal plane 1206 downwardly into the air baffle 1200. This mechanism captures air flow that would normally move above the heat sink fins and redirects this air flow through the heat sink fins. The redirected airflow may be directed to lower parts of the heat sinks located within the air baffle (i.e., below the sheet metal plane 1206), thus providing improved cooling performance. An indication of air flow paths provided by air baffle 1200 is provided in
Further, as discussed above, air baffle 1200 may include guide vanes 1214 and 1212 extending perpendicular from planar sheets 1206 and 1214 of shell 1202 and air deflector 1204 (i.e., downwardly toward PCB 380). As discussed above, fans may tend to generate a diagonal air flow across card 54. On a general level, guide vanes 1214 and 1212 may direct this air flow across card 54 in a perpendicular or orthogonal to the sides of card 54, rather than diagonally across card 54, which may promote increased heat dissipation. On a more focused level, as shown in
As discussed above, in some embodiments, disk drive 109 is a solid state drive that can be interchanged or completely removed from card 54, e.g., for interchangeability security and ease of managing multiple projects, for example. Disk drive 109 may be provided in a drive assembly 1300 shown in
Lateral sides 1308 of disk housing 1304 are configured to be slidably received in guide channels of drive carrier support 1340, shown in
The components of drive carrier 1302 and drive carrier support 1340 may be formed from any suitable materials. In some embodiments, drive carrier 1302 may be formed from materials that provide desired weight, conductivity, and/or EMI shielding, e.g., aluminum.
Drive carrier support 1340 may be formed from any suitable materials. In some embodiments, drive carrier support 1340 may be formed from materials that provide low insertion force (e.g., low friction force). For example, drive carrier support 1340 may be formed from polyoxymethylene, acetal, polyacetal, or polyformaldehyde to provide a self-lubricating surface, rigidity, stability, and machinability.
In some embodiments, drive assembly 1300 and/or card 54 includes a drive status detection system for automatic detection of the removal or insertion of drive carrier 1302 from drive carrier support 1340. For example, the drive status detection may include an electrical micro switch configured to detect the presence or absence of the drive carrier 1302 (or communicative connection/disconnection of drive 109 from card 54). Other embodiments include software for detecting the presence or absence of the drive carrier 1302 (or communicative connection/disconnection of drive 109 from card 54). Such software may periodically check an ID register on the drive 109 to verify that the drive carrier 1302 is still installed. If the drive is not found, the software may automatically issue a board reset. A special BIOS function may be provided that periodically or continuously checks for a drive 109 if a drive is not found. Once the drive carrier 1302 is installed and the BIOS detects the drive 109, the card 54 will boot normally.
For the purposes of this disclosure, the term exemplary means example only. Although the disclosed embodiments are described in detail in the present disclosure, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from their spirit and scope.
