Runtime adaptable protocol processor

• US 20040210320A1
• Filed: 05/12/2004
• Published: 10/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Memory Access Technologies LLC
• Original Assignee: Protocol Acquisition LLC
• Inventors: Pandya, Ashish A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,631,107 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/168 specially adapted for link layer protocols, e.g. asynchronous transfer mode [ATM], synchronous optical network [SONET] or point-to-point protocol [PPP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/169 Special adaptations of TCP, UDP or IP for interworking of IP based networks with other networks protocols for interworking, protocol conversion H04L69/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A runtime adaptable protocol processor is disclosed. The processor architecture provides capabilities to transport and process Internet Protocol (IP) packets from Layer 2 through transport protocol layer and may also provide packet inspection through Layer 7. Further, a runtime adaptable processor is coupled to the protocol processing hardware and may be dynamically adapted to perform hardware tasks as per the needs of the network traffic being sent or received and/or the policies programmed or services or applications being supported. A set of engines may perform pass-through packet classification, policy processing and/or security processing enabling packet streaming through the architecture at nearly the full line rate. A scheduler schedules packets to packet processors for processing. An internal memory or local session database cache stores a session information database for a certain number of active sessions. The session information that is not in the internal memory is stored and retrieved to/from an additional memory. An application running on an initiator or target can in certain instantiations register a region of memory, which is made available to its peer(s) for access directly without substantial host intervention through RDMA data transfer. A security system is also disclosed that enables a new way of implementing security capabilities inside enterprise networks in a distributed manner using a protocol processing hardware with appropriate security features.

Claims

1. A hardware processor providing protocol processing capability comprising a runtime adaptable protocol processor.

2. The hardware processor of claim 1 providing protocol processing capability, for using TCP, UDP, SCTP or other transport layers, or a combination of any of the foregoing, over IP networks.

21. The runtime adaptable protocol processor of claim 1 providing protocol processing capability, for using TCP, UDP, SCTP, other transport layers, or a combination of any of the foregoing, over IP networks.

22. The hardware processor of claim 1 wherein said runtime adaptable protocol processor provides runtime adaptable processor hardware to dynamically select hardware configurations to support application or service processing needs of data received from said network, of data being sent to said network, or of a combination thereof.

23. The runtime adaptable protocol processor of claim 1 further providing capability to select:

a. policy based services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

b. user selected services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

c. user defined services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

d. user configured services, applications or policies or a combination there of; and

e. a combination of any of the foregoing,

on the data packets received from said network or the on data packets sent to said network or a combination thereof.

3. A hardware processor providing Remote Direct Memory Access capability comprising a runtime adaptable protocol processor with a remote direct memory access mechanism.

4. The hardware processor of claim 3 providing protocol processing capability, for using TCP, UDP, SCTP, other transport layers, or a combination of any of the foregoing, over IP networks.

24. The hardware processor of claim 3 wherein said runtime adaptable protocol processor provides protocol processing capability for using TCP, UDP, SCTP, other transport layers, or a combination of any of the foregoing, over IP networks.

25. The hardware processor of claim 3 wherein said runtime adaptable protocol processor further provides runtime adaptable processor hardware to dynamically select hardware configurations to support application or service processing needs of data received from the said network, of data being sent to the said network, or of a combination thereof.

26. The hardware processor of claim 3 wherein said runtime adaptable protocol processor further provides capability to select:

a. policy based services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

b. user selected services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

c. user defined services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

d. user configured services, applications or policies or a combination there of; and

e. a combination of any of the foregoing,

on the data packets received from said network or on the data packets sent to said network, or on a combination thereof.

5. A hardware processor providing protocol processing capability enabling TCP, SCTP, other session oriented protocols, UDP, or a combination of any of the foregoing, over IP networks, said processor comprising:

a. a runtime adaptable processor for dynamically adapting hardware configuration to process information;

b. at least one packet processor for processing packets;

c. a memory controller for controlling memory accesses;

d. a network interface for coupling to a network; and

e. a host interface for coupling to a host, a fabric interface for coupling to a fabric, or a second network interface for coupling to a second network.

6. The hardware processor of claim 5 further comprising at least one of:

a. a session memory for storing IP session information;

b. an IP Storage session memory for storing IP Storage session information;

c. a classification processor for classifying IP packets;

d. a flow controller for controlling data flow;

e. a policy processor for applying policies;

f. a security processor for performing security operations;

g. a controller for control plane processing;

h. a packet scheduler for scheduling operations;

i. an adaptation controller for adapting the runtime adaptable processor;

j. a configuration memory for configuration information;

k. a runtime adaptable processor extension interface to couple to another runtime adaptable processor;

l. at least one data buffer for storing data;

m. a packet memory for storing packets; and

n. a combination of any of the foregoing.

7. The hardware processor of claim 5 wherein any combination of said recited elements a-e or parts thereof are implemented in a single element.

8. The hardware processor of claim 6 wherein any combination of said recited elements a-m or parts thereof are implemented in a single element.

9. The hardware processor of claim 5 wherein the runtime adaptable processor comprises:

a. at least one configuration controller for dynamic configuration control;

b. at least one dynamically adaptable interconnect network; and

c. at least one dynamically adaptable computational logic element for processing information.

10. The hardware processor of claim 9 wherein said runtime adaptable processor further comprises at least one of the following:

a. at least one compute cluster providing computational logic;

b. a global configuration controller for global configuration control;

c. a configuration memory controller for controlling accesses to a configuration memory;

d. an inter cluster routing switch for controlling routing between compute clusters;

e. at least one inter cluster routing channel for routing information for said at least one compute cluster;

f. a global memory for providing memory storage;

g. a global memory controller for controlling accesses to at least said global memory; and

h. a combination of any of the foregoing.

11. The hardware processor of claim 10 wherein said at least one compute cluster comprises:

a. a cluster configuration controller for dynamic configuration control;

b. at least one dynamically adaptable computational element for processing information; and

c. a configurable cluster interconnect network for connecting dynamically adaptable computational elements.

12. The hardware processor of claim 10 wherein said at least one compute cluster further comprises at least one of the following:

a. a cluster memory for providing memory storage;

b. a cluster memory controller for controlling at least said cluster memory;

c. a cluster routing switch for interconnecting said at least one dynamically adaptable computational element internal to said at least one compute cluster or external to said at least one compute cluster, or a combination thereof;

d. a memory access interconnect network for accessing said cluster memory; and

e. a combination of any of the foregoing.

13. The hardware processor of claim 9 wherein said at least one dynamically adaptable computational logic element comprises at least one of the following:

a. FPGA-like combinational logic blocks providing configurable logic and logic to connect said configurable logic;

b. at least one programmable processor dynamically configurable to perform operations; and

c. a combination of any of the foregoing.

14. The hardware processor of claim 13 wherein at least one of said at least one programmable processor comprises:

a. at least one arithmetic logic unit to perform arithmetic or logic operations or a combination thereof; and

b. a storage unit to store data.

15. The hardware processor of claim 13 wherein said at least one programmable processor further comprises at least one of the following:

a. a hardware avatar or configuration, and avatar selection logic therefor;

b. an instruction decoder for decoding avatar instructions;

c. at least one functional unit to perform operations other than ALU operations;

d. an instruction memory for instructions;

e. input selection logic to select inputs to said at least one programmable processor;

f. output selection logic to select output from said at least one programmable processor;

g. bypass logic to provide a data path from selected inputs to selected outputs without processing said data by said processor; and

h. a combination of any of the foregoing.

16. The hardware processor of claim 15 wherein said hardware avatar comprises a hardware configuration selected by executing one of said instructions or a set of said instructions.

17. A system comprising a runtime adaptable protocol processor capable of being coupled to a network to process data packets.

18. The runtime adaptable protocol processor of claim 17 providing protocol processing capabilities for using TCP, UDP, SCTP, other transport layers, or a combination of any of the foregoing, over IP networks.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein said runtime adaptable protocol processor further provides runtime adaptable processor hardware to dynamically select hardware configurations to support application or service processing needs of data received from said network, or of data being sent to said network, or of a combination thereof.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein said runtime adaptable protocol processor further provides capability to select:

a. policy based services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

b. user selected services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

c. user defined services, applications or policies or a combination there of;

d. user configured services, applications or policies or a combination there of; and

e. a combination of any of the foregoing,

on the data packets received from said network or on the data packets sent to said network, or a combination thereof.