Infrastructure Data-Plane Function

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OASIS-idpf@ConnectedCommunity.org

Contacts

Chair: Michael S. Tsirkin
Red Hat
mst@redhat.com

Chair: Anjali Singhai Jain
Intel Corporation
anjali.singhai@intel.com

OASIS Staff Contact: Kelly Cullinane
OASIS
kelly.cullinane@oasis-open.org


Description

Defining a standard Network Data-Plane Function PCIe device (peripheral component interconnect express) to meet the needs of large data center operators and their tenants and vendors of host-attached networking devices.

Group Notes

Announcements

Read the blog by Anjali Singhai Jain, Intel, co-chair of the IDPF TC: Creating a Leading PCIE Based Ethernet Host Interface Standard: Infrastructure Data-Plane Function (IDPF).

Participation in the IDPF TC is open to all interested parties. Contact join@oasis-open.org for more information.

Overview

The IDPF TC's goal is to define a standard Network Data-Plane Function PCIE device. PCIe stands for 'peripheral component interconnect express' and it is an interface standard for connecting high-speed components of a computer. The project is aimed at meeting the needs of large data center operators and their tenants and vendors of Host-attached networking devices, such as NICs and Accelerators.

The TC's work will satisfy multiple goals:



  • High throughput/low-overhead operation

  • Remove most of the CPU cost of emulated interfaces

  • Decouple Tenant and data-center operations

  • Standardized interface for scalability and ease of configuration and operation

  • Offer Tenants additional features and accelerations to keep up evolving demands

  • Feature negotiation and extensibility to allow scalable provisioning and orchestration



None of the standard interfaces available in the market today provide for all of these needs at once.

For more information, see the IDPF TC Charter.

Founding members of this TC include:



  • Intel

  • Red Hat

  • Google



Mailing Lists and Comments

idpf: the discussion list used by TC members to conduct Committee work. TC membership is required to post, and TC members are automatically subscribed. The public may view the OASIS list archives.

idpf-comment: a public mailing list for providing feedback on the technical work of the IDPF TC. To send a comment, follow the instructions on the TC's public web page here or view the OASIS comment list archives.

Press Coverage and Commentary

Creating a Leading PCIE Based Ethernet Host Interface Standard: Infrastructure Data-Plane Function (IDPF) blog by Anjali Singhai Jain, Intel, co-chair of the IDPF TC. 11 January 2023.

TC Tools



  • idpf-specification - Open IDPF specification for IDPF members to review and comment in order to clarify and complete the design.





Public Resources

Announcements

  • NetDev 0x18 Conference Highlights

    By: Michael Penner Michael Penner , one month ago

    The NetDev 0x18 Conference, scheduled for July 15-19, promises to be a hotbed of innovation, with several exciting presentations lined up. Three papers, in particular, are expected to be game-changers in the world of AI networks and protocols and have a close connection to our work on the Infrastructure Data-Plane Function (IDPF) spec and driver.

    The first paper, "The Future of AI Networks: Advancing TCP with Device Memory and Collective Communication," focuses on the evolution of TCP to support Collective Communication (CC) semantics. This initiative, originally introduced as Devmem TCP by Google, is a game changer in the AI network landscape. The paper focuses on Device Memory TCP network performance enhancements, similar to GPU Direct RDMA, for AI workloads. The authors will share their implementation strategies and provide updates on their progress, along with detailed performance data and future collaboration topics.

    The second paper, "PSP Crypto Protocol and HW Offload," presents PSP, a security protocol that incorporates lessons from experiences with currently deployed L2, L3, and L4 crypto protocols. Developed and implemented by Google, PSP is engineered for scalability and avoids storing an explicit Security Association (SA) for incoming traffic. Instead, it dynamically generates the ingress key on the NIC using a device master key and the SA Security Parameter Index (SPI) found within the packet. This paper is a preview of a new capability that will be integrated in the IDPF spec and driver in the future.

    The third paper, "Introduction to Falcon Reliable Transport," explains Falcon, a hardware-offloaded reliable transport that works with RDMA to solve RoCEv2 issues. Introduced by Google, Falcon is designed to meet the demands of workloads that require high burst bandwidth, high message rates, and low latency. The paper will detail the connection setup, key exchange, and integration with the rdma-core/ibverbs framework, along with proposed extensions to support advanced features. Falcon Reliable Transport leverages the newly defined interface for iRDMA from within IDPF.

    Collectively, these papers signify a leap forward for AI networks, offering cutting-edge solutions to the complexities of network communication protocols, security, and reliable transport, all while building upon the IDPF standard's foundation. The NetDev 0x18 Conference is set to be a significant event, showcasing advancements that will shape the AI network landscape. For more information on the conference, including abstracts for these and other offerings, please visit the NetDev 0x18 Conference website: https://netdevconf.info/0x18/index.html.