P4 is a high-level language for programming protocol-independent packet processors. P4 works in conjunction with SDN control protocols like OpenFlow. In its current form, OpenFlow explicitly specifies protocol headers on which it operates. This set has grown from 12 to 41 fields in a few years, increasing the complexity of the specification while still not providing the flexibility to add new headers. In this paper we propose P4 as a strawman proposal for how Open-Flow should evolve in the future. We have three goals: (1) Reconfigurability in the field: Programmers should be able to change the way switches process packets once they are deployed.(2) Protocol independence: Switches should not be tied to any specific network protocols. (3) Target independence: Programmers should be able to describe packetprocessing functionality independently of the specifics of the underlying hardware. As an example, we describe how to use P4 to configure a switch to add a new hierarchical label.

-In this paper, we present the Tiny Tera: a small packet switch with an aggregate bandwidth of 320Gb/s. The Tiny Tera is a CMOS-based input-queued, fixed-size packet switch suitable for a wide range of applications such as a highperformance ATM switch, the core of an Internet router or as a fast multiprocessor interconnect. Using off-the-shelf technology, we plan to demonstrate that a very highbandwidth switch can be built without the need for esoteric optical switching technology. By employing novel scheduling algorithms for both unicast and multicast traffic, the switch will have a maximum throughput close to 100%. Using novel highspeed chip-to-chip serial link technology, we plan to reduce the physical size and complexity of the switch, as well as the system pin-count.

In Software Defined Networking (SDN) the control plane is physically separate from the forwarding plane. Control software programs the forwarding plane (e.g., switches and routers) using an open interface, such as OpenFlow. This paper aims to overcomes two limitations in current switching chips and the OpenFlow protocol: i) current hardware switches are quite rigid, allowing "Match-Action" processing on only a fixed set of fields, and ii) the OpenFlow specification only defines a limited repertoire of packet processing actions. We propose the RMT (reconfigurable match tables) model, a new RISC-inspired pipelined architecture for switching chips, and we identify the essential minimal set of action primitives to specify how headers are processed in hardware. RMT allows the forwarding plane to be changed in the field without modifying hardware. As in OpenFlow, the programmer can specify multiple match tables of arbitrary width and depth, subject only to an overall resource limit, with each table configurable for matching on arbitrary fields. However, RMT allows the programmer to modify all header fields much more comprehensively than in OpenFlow. Our paper describes the design of a 64 port by 10 Gb/s switch chip implementing the RMT model. Our concrete design demonstrates, contrary to concerns within the community, that flexible OpenFlow hardware switch implementations are feasible at almost no additional cost or power.

In Software Defined Networking (SDN) the control plane is physically separate from the forwarding plane. Control software programs the forwarding plane (e.g., switches and routers) using an open interface, such as OpenFlow. This paper aims to overcomes two limitations in current switching chips and the OpenFlow protocol: i) current hardware switches are quite rigid, allowing ``Match-Action'' processing on only a fixed set of fields, and ii) the OpenFlow specification only defines a limited repertoire of packet processing actions. We propose the RMT (reconfigurable match tables) model, a new RISC-inspired pipelined architecture for switching chips, and we identify the essential minimal set of action primitives to specify how headers are processed in hardware. RMT allows the forwarding plane to be changed in the field without modifying hardware. As in OpenFlow, the programmer can specify multiple match tables of arbitrary width and depth, subject only to an overall resource limit, with each table configurable for matching on arbitrary fields. However, RMT allows the programmer to modify all header fields much more comprehensively than in OpenFlow. Our paper describes the design of a 64 port by 10 Gb/s switch chip implementing the RMT model. Our concrete design demonstrates, contrary to concerns within the community, that flexible OpenFlow hardware switch implementations are feasible at almost no additional cost or power.

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