Automatic partitioning and mapping of stream-based applications onto the Intel IXP Network processor

Abstract

When studying the IXP Network processor architecture from Intel, we found quite some interesting aspects that make the IXP attractive for stream-based applications. The architecture is highly optimized for streaming data, albeit in the form of internet packets. Furthermore, the architecture has Gigabit Ethernet connectors for handling incoming and outgoing traffic and can process this data at real-time using dedicated microengines. In this paper, we try to answer three questions; 1) Can we use the IXP architecture for stream-based applications? 2) can we map applications written as a KPN onto an IXP? 3) can we integrate the generation of KPNs using the Compaan compiler with a tool flow that maps the KPN to an IXP, thereby make the programming of IXP much simpler? As will be shown, all three steps can be performed and we show that we can map automatically two non-internet stream-based applications (QR and DWT) onto the IXP.