“Scalable Network Function Virtualization for Heterogeneous Middleboxes”

Speaker: Russell Tessier
Associate Dean of Engineering; Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

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Abstract: Over the past decade, a wide-ranging collection of network functions in middleboxes has been used to accommodate the needs of network users. Although the use of general-purpose processors has been shown to be feasible for this purpose, the serial nature of microprocessors limits network functional virtualization (NFV) performance. In this talk, we describe a new heterogeneous hardware-software approach to NFV construction that provides scalability and programmability, while supporting significant hardware-level parallelism and reconfiguration. Our computing platform uses both field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and microprocessors to implement numerous NFV operations that can be dynamically customized to specific network flow needs. Traffic management and hardware reconfiguration functions are performed by a global coordinator that allows for the rapid sharing of middlebox state and continuous evaluation of network function needs. To evaluate our approach, a series of software tools and NFV modules have been implemented. Our system is shown to be scalable for collections of network functions exceeding one million shared states.

Bio: Russell Tessier Russell Tessier has worked in the research area of reconfigurable computing for the past 25 years. In addition to being a professor, he is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for the UMass College of Engineering. His current research interests include security for field-programmable gate arrays, networks-on- chip, and embedded systems.

Hosted by Professor Jakub Szefer

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