IPv6-Oriented 4xOC-768 Packet Classification with Deriving-Merging Partition and Field-Variable Encoding Algorithm

Abstract

Packet Classification serves as a plinth for many newly emerging network applications. Most of the previous packet classification schemes are IPv4-oriented, and some of them have achieved high throughput with chip-level parallelism of Ternary Content Addressable Memories (TCAM). However, due to their inefficient utilization of TCAM resources, further upgrade incurs prohibitive hardware costs. As IPv6 will dominate the Next Generation Internet, IPv6-oriented packet classification is of increasing importance. In this paper, we propose a packet classification scheme geared towards IPv6. This scheme incorporates efficient and flexible algorithms for parallelism and distributed storing, which provides an unprecedentedly high throughput with relatively low storage costs. Our scheme also integrates delicate parallel encoding algorithms to maximize the TCAM utilization and increase its throughput. Using commercially available TCAM, the scheme is able to classify 266 million IPv6 packets per second (Mpps), matching 4×OC-768 (160 Gbps) line rate. Key words—Packet Classification, Encoding, IPv6, TCAM