Dynamic hardware plugins: Exploiting reconfigurable hardware for high-performance programmable routers

Abstract

This paper presents the dynamic hardware plugins (DHP) architecture for implementing multiple networking applications in hardware at programmable routers. By enabling multiple applications to be dynamically loaded into a single hardware device, the DHP architecture provides a scalable mechanism for implementing high-performance programmable routers. The DHP architecture is presented within the context of a programmable router architecture which processes flows in both software and hardware. Implementation options are described as well as the prototype testbed at Washington University in Saint Louis which utilizes the partial reconfiguration capability of modern field programmable gate arrays. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.