AutoMapper: an automated tool for optimal hardware resource allocation for networking applications on FPGA (abstract only)

It has now become imperative for routers to support complicated lookup schemes, based on the specific function of the networking hardware. It is no longer possible to ensure an optimal resource utilization using manual organization techniques due to the increasing complexity of lookup schemes, as well as the large number of potential implementation choices. We have developed an automated tool, AutoMapper, which can map lookup schemes onto a particular target architecture optimally, thereby providing a superior alternative to the time-consuming and resource inefficient technique of manual conversion. It is based on an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation that is able to allocate the limited hardware resources for a single lookup scheme, while optimizing any of the three performance metrics of latency, throughput or power consumption. Accurate formulation of the objective function and the constraint equations guarantee optimality in terms of the chosen performance metric. We demonstrate the operation of the developed tool, by successfully mapping complex real world lookup schemes onto a state-of-the art FPGA device, with execution times being under a second on a dual-core computer with 4 GB of RAM, running at 2.40 GHz.