System and method for a fast, programmable packet processing system

• US 20060242710A1
• Filed: 03/02/2006
• Published: 10/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alexander S. Thomas
• Original Assignee: Alexander S. Thomas
• Inventors: Alexander, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 7,839,854 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/84 output devices, e.g. displays or monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers

Abstract

The present invention provides a cost effective method to improve the performance of communication appliances by retargeting the graphics processing unit as a coprocessor to accelerate networking operations. A system and method is disclosed for using a coprocessor on a standard personal computer to accelerate packet processing operations common to network appliances. The appliances include but are not limited to routers, switches, load balancers and Unified Threat Management appliances. More specifically, the method uses common advanced graphics processor engines to accelerate the packet processing tasks.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a central processing unit; and

a graphics processing unit (GPU) coupled to the central processing unit, the graphics processing unit being utilized to provide parallelized operations on packet data.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized for deep packet inspection for viruses.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized for packet header inspection for packet forwarding.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning static files.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against accepting or keeping files containing specific patterns for viruses, specific words and phrases.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against releasing files containing specific patterns for viruses, specific words and phrases.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized to identify a subset of relevant files.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning of packet data to determine application based forwarding.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning email traffic.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against accepting emails containing specific patterns.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against releasing emails containing specific patterns.

12. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of packets to a graphics processor system;

extracting information from the plurality of packets;

performing a sequence of operations based upon the extracted information; and

storing a result based upon the sequence of operations.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the information comprises an internet protocol address from the plurality of packets.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the performing step comprises performing a sequence of operations on a route lookup database to find longest prefix match.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the information comprises data for pattern matching.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the performing step comprises performing a sequence of operations to match an extracted packet data with one or more string patterns in a string pattern database.

17. A method within a processing system, the processing system comprising a central processing unit;

and a graphics processing unit coupled to the central processing unit;

the method comprising;

utilizing the graphics processing unit to provide parallelized operations on data packets.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized for deep packet inspection for viruses.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized for packet header inspection for packet forwarding.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning static files.

21. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against accepting or keeping files containing specific patterns for viruses, specific words and phrases.

22. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against releasing files containing specific patterns for viruses, specific words and phrases.

23. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized to identify a subset of relevant files.

24. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning of packet data to determine application based forwarding.

25. The method of claim 17 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning email traffic.

26. A computer readable medium containing program instructions within a processing system, the processing system comprising a central processing unit;

and a graphics processing unit coupled to the central processing unit;

the method comprising;

utilizing the graphics processing unit to provide parallelized operations on data packets.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized for deep packet inspection for viruses.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized for packet header inspection for packet forwarding.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning static files.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against accepting or keeping files containing specific patterns for viruses, specific words and phrases.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized to protect against releasing files containing specific patterns for viruses, specific words and phrases.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized to identify a subset of relevant files.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning of packet data to determine application based forwarding.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein the GPU is utilized for scanning email traffic.