Case Study:

Performance Analysis of a Diversified Router

Brandon Heller, brandon.heller@gmail.com

Abstract:

Routers are responsible for forwarding the packets in today's Internet from source to destination. Unfortunately, the Internet architecture has become resistant to change, in a way that kills new innovation. One potential solution to this problem is the concept of Diversified Networking, which uses virtualization at the network layer to enable multiple concurrent networks with minimal design constraints. Washington University is building a prototype diversified router on network processors, which are highly parallel processors optimized for network tasks. We present a survey of benchmarks for network processors, and describe performance considerations for related systems. We also present an experimental design for evaluating those factors affecting performance, along with preliminary results and analysis, for standard IPv4 packets.

Table of Contents:

  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Network Diversification
  • 3. Network Processing Benchmarks
  • 4. Related Router Systems
  • 5. Performance Analysis
  • 6. Summary
  • References

  • View complete report on-line
    Shift-click to download the paper in Adobe Acrobat format
    List of other reports in this series
    Back to Raj Jain's home page