PackeX: Low-Power High-Performance Packet Classifier Using Memory on FPGAs

Abstract

Networks are continuously growing, and the demand for fast communication is rapidly increasing. With the increase in network bandwidth requirement, efficient packet-classification techniques are required. To achieve the requirements of these future networks at component level, every module such as routers, switches, and gateways needs to be upgraded. Packet classification is one of the main characteristics of a stable network which differentiates the incoming flow into defined streams. Existing packet classifiers have lower throughput to cope with the higher demand of the network. In this work, we propose a novel high-speed packet classifier named as PackeX that enables the network to receive and forward the data packets in a simplest structure. A size of 128-rule 32-bit is successfully implemented on Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA. Experimental findings show that our proposed packet classifier is versatile and dynamic compared to the current FPGA-based packet classifiers achieving a speed of 119 million packets per second (Mpps), while consuming 53% less power compared with the state-of-the-art architectures.