KR20080051046A - Hardware device and method for sending the network protocol packet - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a hardware device for transmitting a network protocol packet are provided to decrease a load on a system by performing a data transmission using a firmware and dedicated hardware implemented in a TOE(TCP Offload engine). A socket resource control/TCP connection/release command storage unit(103) stores a socket resource control command and a TCP(Transfer Control Protocol) connection/release command from a host processor. A message transmission command storage unit(104) stores a message transmission command based on a network protocol corresponding to the respective sockets. A socket information/packet information storage unit(110) stores socket information and packet transmission information. A transmission processor(101) analyzes the message transmission command stored in the message transmission command storage unit, determines required transmission resources, and configures the message to be transmitted according to a network packet format. The transmission processor reads the data to be transmitted, generates a header, and stores the socket information and packet transmission information.

Description

Hardware device and method for sending network protocol packet

The present invention relates to a hardware device for network protocol packet transmission in a TOE (TCP Offload Engine) for network protocol acceleration and the like, and more particularly, to a conventional software that processes data transmission by the network protocol stack on the operating system. Unlike the method, the packet transmission is generated by increasing the performance of a large number of network applications in the system by processing hardware through a hardware running in a dedicated hardware device and a transmission dedicated processor mounted in a TCP Offload Engine (TOE). A hardware apparatus and method for network protocol packet transmission for reducing the load on a system due to request processing.

The present invention is derived from research conducted as part of the next generation IT core technology development project of the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Ministry of Information and Communication Research and Development. [Task Management Number: 2005-S-405-02, Title: Development of Next Generation Internet Server Technology].

In general, a server-client relationship is formed between networked systems. At this time, a program such as a network program is used for communication between the server and the client. Such a network program transmits and receives data on a network through a socket, which is a communication connection point written in software.

When sending data over a socket, the headers and data of the network protocol packets stored in memory are transferred over the bus to the transmit buffer of the network interface and transmitted through the controller to the network. When receiving, data is sent to the memory via the receive buffer.

These processes are performed by the operating system via applications. In the data transmission process by the operating system, a socket buffer for storing transmission data is generated by the socket creation routine of the application program. When the data transmission command is transmitted to the operating system, the data is copied to the socket buffer of the operating system kernel. At this time, the operating system composes a packet with the data of the socket buffer, copies the header and the data of the configured packet to the network interface, and transmits the packet.

As described above, in the conventional network program, the transmission of network protocol packets is handled by the network protocol stack on the operating system and processed by software.

Therefore, when the number of data transmissions using the protocol increases due to the execution of a plurality of network applications in the computer system, a significant load for processing the network protocol in the system is generated, and the overall system performance is degraded.

Therefore, the above-described prior art processes data transfer by the network protocol stack on the operating system in software, thereby increasing the data transfer using the protocol due to the execution of a plurality of network applications, resulting in a significant load. There is a problem that the overall system performance is deteriorated, it is a problem of the present invention to solve this problem.

Accordingly, the present invention, unlike the conventional method of processing data transmission by the network protocol stack on the operating system in software, the hardware through the firmware running on the dedicated hardware device and the transmission dedicated processor mounted in the TOE (TCP Offload Engine), etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hardware apparatus and method for network protocol packet transmission for reducing the load on the system due to the packet transmission request processing generated by the increased performance of a plurality of network applications in the system. .

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects and advantages of the present invention which are not mentioned above can be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. Also, it will be readily appreciated that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the claims.

The apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises: socket resource control instructions from a host processor, socket resource control for storing TCP connect / disconnect instructions and TCP connect / disconnect instruction storage means; Message transfer instruction storage means for storing a network protocol based message transfer instruction corresponding to each socket; Socket information and packet transmission information storage means for storing socket information and packet transmission information; And analyzing the message transmission command stored in the message transmission command storage means to identify a necessary transmission resource, configuring a message to be transmitted in the form of a network packet, reading data to be transmitted and generating a header, and generating the socket information and the packet. And a transmitting processor for storing the socket information and the packet transmission information in the transmission information storage means.

In addition, the apparatus of the present invention further comprises a transmission standby socket identifier storage means for storing an identifier of a socket for which there is no media access control (MAC) address for transmitting the message transmission command and the TCP connection / release command. The transmitting processor acquires the MAC address of the destination node through transmission / reception of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet as the identifier of the socket is stored in the transmission standby socket identifier storage means, and then executes a corresponding command (packet). Characterized in that the transmission.

In addition, the apparatus of the present invention further comprises a timeout packet-owned socket identifier storage means for storing an identifier of a socket that owns a timeout packet that occurs upon packet transmission / reception, wherein the transmission processor further includes a timeout time. After setting the timeout, as the identifier of the socket is stored in the timeout packet-owned socket identifier storage means by hardware logic controlling the timeout, the type of timeout is checked and the corresponding packet is transmitted.

The apparatus of the present invention may further include receiving packet information storing means for storing network packet information generated by the receiving-only processor, wherein the transmitting processor is configured to store network packet information in the receiving packet information storing means. As such, the information is analyzed and processed.

On the other hand, the method of the present invention for achieving the above object, the step of analyzing the message transmission command stored in the message transmission command pool to identify the required transmission resources; Constructing a message to be transmitted in accordance with a corresponding network protocol in the form of a network packet; Reading a data to be transmitted and generating a network protocol header for transmitting the data; And transmitting a packet comprising the generated header and the read data.

In addition, the method of the present invention comprises the steps of: checking the idle socket identifier pool for storing the identifier of the socket for which there is no media access control (MAC) address for transmitting the message transfer command and TCP connect / disconnect command; Acquiring a MAC address of a destination node through transmission / reception of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet as an identifier of the socket is stored in the transmission standby socket identifier pool; And transmitting a corresponding command (packet).

The method may also include setting a timeout time; And identifying the type of timeout and transmitting the corresponding packet as the identifier of the socket is stored in the timeout packet owning socket identifier pool by the hardware logic controlling the timeout.

The method of the present invention may further include analyzing and processing the corresponding information according to the network packet information generated by the receiving-only processor in the received packet information pool.

The present invention as described above, unlike the conventional method of software data processing by the network protocol stack on the operating system, the firmware running on a dedicated hardware device and a transmission dedicated processor mounted in the TOE (TCP Offload Engine), etc. Through hardware processing, it is possible to reduce the load on the system due to the processing of packet transmission requests generated by an increase in performance of a plurality of network applications in the system.

The above objects, features, and advantages will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, and accordingly, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may have the technical idea of the present invention. It will be easy to implement. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present invention, the transmission firmware refers to a transmission network protocol stack that runs on a transmission-only processor built in a TOE for network protocol acceleration. The transmission firmware receives and processes the message transmission request generated by the application program and the management commands for the socket and other network resources related to the transmission, and receives and processes the initial configuration and control commands of the TOE.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware device for transmitting a TOE-based network protocol packet according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a network protocol is divided into a transmission / reception processor and processed, that is, a socket resource control command and a TCP connection / release command; The transmission-only processor 101 is in charge of receiving / processing a message transmission command, and the reception-only processor 102 is in charge of receiving a message reception command and network packets from the outside. Indicates a case of being stored in the internal memory 110.

As shown in FIG. 1, a hardware device for transmitting a TOE-based network protocol packet according to the present invention includes a transmission-only processor 101 for processing a TOE-based network transmission protocol and a reception for processing a TOE-based network reception protocol. Dedicated processor 102, socket resource control (create, delete, attribute change) instructions from host processor, socket resource control and TCP connect / disconnect instruction pool 103 for storing TCP connect / disconnect instructions, corresponding to each socket Message transfer command pool 104 for storing network protocol based message transfer command, identifier of socket waiting for transmission because information for message (data) transmission and TCP connection / release packet (command) transmission does not exist The pool of idle socket identifiers for storing packets, 108 that owns the timeout packets that occur during packet transmission / reception. A timeout packet owning socket identifier pool 107 for storing an identifier of the receiver, a receiving packet information pool 109 for storing network packet information generated by the receiving-only processor 102, and control of the transmitting-only processor. Accordingly, the socket information and packet transmission information storage memory 110 for storing the socket information and packet transmission information.

Here, the host processor runs a network protocol stack on an operating system and delivers socket resource control commands, TCP connect / disconnect commands, and message transfer commands (data transmission commands) from a network application to a hardware device.

In addition, the socket resource control and TCP connection / release command pool 103, the message transfer command pool 104, and the standby socket identifier pool 108 may be configured to transmit to the transmit-only processor 101 via the transmit processor local bus 105. ).

In addition, the timeout packet owning socket identifier pool 107, the receiving packet information pool 109, and the socket information and packet transmission information storage memory 110 are connected to the transmission-only processor 101 via the transmission processor local bus 105. ) Is connected to the receive-only processor 102 via the receive processor local bus 106.

2 is an overall flowchart illustrating an operation sequence of a hardware device for transmitting a TOE-based network protocol packet according to the present invention, and illustrates an operation sequence of transmission firmware that runs in a transmission-only processor.

As shown in Figure 2, the operation of the transmission firmware for network protocol packet transmission can be divided into five parts.

Firstly, it receives and processes socket resource control and TCP connection / release commands generated by a network program request, and secondly, receives and processes a network protocol-based message transfer command, and thirdly, receives an externally received packet. Receiving and processing the processing information generated by the receiving-only processor 102, and fourthly, processing the packet waiting for transmission because there is no transmission information, and finally transmitting / receiving the packet. It can be divided into the operation of processing the timeout packet generated at the time.

Hereinafter, each operation will be described in more detail.

<Socket resource control and TCP connect / release command processing>

First, the transmit-only processor 101 stores a socket resource control (create, delete, attribute change) command or a TCP connect / release command from the host processor in the socket resource control and TCP connect / release command pool 103. Check if there is (200).

If the result of the check 200 is stored, the command is analyzed and processed (201). In this case, the socket resource control and TCP connection / release command pool 103 may further include a network resource control command.

This type of command includes a command identifier, command sequence identifier, command argument number, command type, socket identifier, and command argument fields, as shown in FIG.

The check result 200, if not stored proceeds to "202" process.

<Message transfer command processing>

The transmission-only processor 101 checks whether the message transmission command corresponding to each socket is stored in the message transmission command pool 104 (202).

If the result of the check 202 is stored, the command is analyzed and processed (203).

That is, the transmission-only processor 101 analyzes the message transmission command stored by performing a message fragmentation operation to identify necessary transmission resources.

Subsequently, a message to be transmitted is configured in the form of a network packet in accordance with the network protocol.

Thereafter, data to be transmitted is read and a network protocol header is generated for transmitting the data.

Thereafter, the packet including the generated header and data is transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 4, the command type includes a protocol type, a command sequence identifier, a number of data information, a transfer command type, a socket identifier field, and at least one transmission data upper address, transmission data lower address, and transmission data size. Contains a field.

The check result 202, if not stored proceeds to "204" process.

<Processing of packet information related to received packet>

The transmission-only processor 101 checks whether network packet information is stored in the received packet information pool 109 (204).

The check result 204, if stored, the corresponding information is analyzed and processed (205). In this case, the network packet information includes TCP connection / release information, reception completion information of a transport packet, error information of a reception packet, and the like. Therefore, the transmission-only processor 101 processes TCP connection / disconnection, completion of transmission of a transmitted packet, error of a reception packet, retransmission of a packet due to reception error, and the like.

Such network packet information, that is, information on processing a packet received by the reception-only processor 102 is as shown in FIG. 5.

The check result 204, if not stored proceeds to "206" process.

<Transfer Waiting Information Processing>

The transmission-only processor 101 checks whether there is no information for transmitting a message (data) and a TCP connection / disconnection packet (command) transmission in the transmission standby socket identifier pool 108 so that an identifier of a socket waiting for transmission is stored. Confirm (206).

That is, the transmission-only processor 101 is a MAC address of a corresponding node when there is no Media Access Control (MAC) address of the corresponding destination node when a message transmission command generated by a network program request and an ACK packet transmission are received. The transmission of the packet is suspended until the is secured, and the identifier of the socket is stored in the standby socket identifier pool 108.

As a result of the check 206, if stored, the MAC node of the destination node is obtained through the transmission / reception of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet, and then the corresponding packet is transmitted (207).

This process applies equally to retransmission attempts.

Here, the structure of the socket identifier is as shown in FIG.

The check result 206, if not stored proceeds to step "208".

<Process Timeout Packet Owned Socket Identifier Information>

First, the transmission-only processor 101 sets a timeout time (ACKed timeout) from transmitting a TCP packet to receiving an ACK packet, which is a reception completion packet, from a counterpart node. At this time, the reception-only processor 102 also sets a timeout time (Delayed ACK timeout) for the transmission of the received TCP packet.

Subsequently, when the corresponding timeout time expires by separate hardware logic controlling the timeout, the type of timeout and the identifier of the corresponding socket are transferred to the timeout packet owning socket identifier pool 107 and stored.

The transmission-only processor 101 checks whether the timeout packet owning socket identifier pool 107 stores the identifier of the socket that owns the timeout packet generated when the packet is transmitted / received (208).

As a result of the check (208), if it is stored, the type of timeout is checked and the corresponding packet is transmitted (209).

If the result of the check 208 is not stored, the process proceeds to the “200” process and the subsequent process is performed.

Here, the timeout type and the structure of the socket identifier are shown in FIG. 7.

On the other hand, the method of the present invention as described above can be written in a computer program. And the code and code segments constituting the program can be easily inferred by a computer programmer in the art. In addition, the written program is stored in a computer-readable recording medium (information storage medium), and read and executed by a computer to implement the method of the present invention. The recording medium may include any type of computer readable recording medium.

The present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is not limited by the drawings.

The present invention can be used for a TCP Offload Engine (TOE).

1 is a configuration diagram of a hardware device for transmitting a TOE-based network protocol packet according to the present invention;

2 is an overall flowchart illustrating an operation sequence of a hardware device for transmitting a TOE-based network protocol packet according to the present invention;

3 is an exemplary view illustrating a socket resource control and a TCP connect / release command stored in a socket resource control and a TCP connect / release command pool according to the present invention;

4 is an exemplary view illustrating a message transfer command stored in a message transfer command pool according to the present invention;

5 is an exemplary view of network packet information stored in a received packet information pool according to the present invention;

6 is an exemplary view illustrating a socket identifier stored in a transmission standby socket identifier pool according to the present invention;

7 is an exemplary view illustrating the structure of a timeout type and a socket identifier stored in a timeout packet owning socket identifier pool according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

101: transmit only processor 102: receive only processor

103: socket resource control and TCP connect / release command pool

104: message transfer command pool 105: send processor local bus

106: Receive Processor Local Bus

107: Timeout packet owned socket identifier pool

108: transmission standby socket identifier pool 109: received packet information pool

110: memory for storing socket information and packet transmission information

Claims (16)

Socket resource control instructions from a host processor, socket resource control for storing TCP connect / disconnect instructions, and TCP connect / disconnect instruction storage means; Message transfer instruction storage means for storing a network protocol based message transfer instruction corresponding to each socket; Socket information and packet transmission information storage means for storing socket information and packet transmission information; And Analyze the message transmission command stored in the message transmission command storage means to identify the necessary transmission resources, configure the message to be transmitted in the form of a network packet, read data to be transmitted and generate a header, and transmit the socket information and packet transmission. Transmission processor for storing socket information and packet transmission information in the information storage means Hardware device for network protocol packet transmission comprising a. The method of claim 1, Further comprising a transmission standby socket identifier storage means for storing the identifier of the socket that does not exist the MAC (Media Access Control) address for transmitting the message transmission command and TCP connection / release command, The transmission processor, As the identifier of the socket is stored in the transmission socket identifier storage means, a MAC address of the destination node is obtained through transmission / reception of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet, and then a corresponding command (packet) is transmitted. Hardware device for transmitting network protocol packets. The method of claim 2, Further comprising a means for storing the timeout packet owned socket identifier for storing the identifier of the socket that owns the timeout packet that occurs during packet transmission / reception, The transmission processor, A network for transmitting a packet by checking the type of a timeout as the identifier of the socket is stored in the timeout packet owning socket identifier storage means by hardware logic controlling the timeout after setting a timeout time Hardware device for protocol packet transmission. The method of claim 3, wherein Receiving packet information storage means for storing network packet information generated by the receiving-only processor further comprises: The transmission processor, And storing network packet information in the received packet information storing means, and analyzing and processing the corresponding information. The method of claim 4, wherein The network packet information, And at least one of TCP connection / release information, reception completion information of a transport packet, and error information of the reception packet. The method of claim 4, wherein The message transmission command, Network protocol packet transmission comprising a protocol type, command sequence identifier, number of data information, transmission command type, and socket identifier field, and at least one transmission data upper address, transmission data lower address, and transmission data size. Hardware device for. The method of claim 4, wherein The socket resource control command and the TCP connection / release command, And a command identifier, a command sequence identifier, a number of command arguments, a command type, a socket identifier, and a command argument. The method of claim 4, wherein The socket resource control and TCP connection / release command storage means, the message transmission command storage means, and the transmission standby socket identifier storage means, Transmit processor A hardware device for network protocol packet transmission characterized in that it is connected to said transmit dedicated processor via a local bus. The method of claim 8, The timeout packet owned socket identifier storage means, the received packet information storage means, and the socket information and packet transmission information storage means, And a transmission-only processor via the transmit processor local bus, and a connection to the receive-only processor via a receive processor local bus. Analyzing a message transmission command stored in the message transmission command pool to identify a necessary transmission resource; Constructing a message to be transmitted in accordance with a corresponding network protocol in the form of a network packet; Reading a data to be transmitted and generating a network protocol header for transmitting the data; And Transmitting a packet comprising the generated header and the read data Network protocol packet transmission method comprising a. The method of claim 10, Examining a pool of idle socket identifiers for storing identifiers of sockets for which there is no media access control (MAC) address for transmitting said message transfer command and TCP connect / disconnect command; Acquiring a MAC address of a destination node through transmission / reception of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet as an identifier of the socket is stored in the transmission standby socket identifier pool; And Send the command (packet) The network protocol packet transmission method further comprising. The method of claim 11, wherein Setting a timeout time; And As the identifier of the socket is stored in the timeout packet owning socket identifier pool by the hardware logic controlling the timeout, checking the type of the timeout and transmitting the corresponding packet. The network protocol packet transmission method further comprising. The method of claim 12, Analyzing and processing the corresponding information according to the network packet information generated by the receive-only processor in the received packet information pool The network protocol packet transmission method further comprising. The method of claim 13, The network packet information, A network protocol packet transmission method comprising one or more of TCP connection / release information, reception completion information of a transport packet, and error information of a reception packet. The method of claim 13, The message transmission command, A network protocol packet transmission method comprising a protocol type, command sequence identifier, data information number, transmission command type, and socket identifier field, and at least one transmission data upper address, transmission data lower address, and transmission data size. . The method of claim 13, The socket resource control command and the TCP connection / release command, And a command identifier, a command sequence identifier, a command argument number, a command type, a socket identifier, and a command argument.

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