Network interface support for user-level buffer management

Abstract

The network interfaces of existing multicomputers and workstations require a significant amount of software overhead to provide protection and buffer management in order to implement message-passing protocols. This paper advocates a physical memory mapping method in a network interface design that supports user-level buffer management. The method requires only a minimal addition to the traditional DMA-based network interface design and eliminates the need for memory buffer management in the operating system kernel. As a result, the software overhead on message passing is reduced by up to 78% and both receive system call and receive interrupt can be avoided.