NetFPGA—An Open Platform for Teaching How to Build Gigabit-Rate Network Switches and Routers

TLDR

NetFPGA lets students and researchers build high‑performance networking systems with FPGA hardware. NetFPGA provides modular interfaces and FPGA‑based core processing with host‑controlled software, supported by reference designs and libraries used in Stanford’s CS344 course and taught in international tutorials. A new version of NetFPGA, including open‑source Verilog, C, Perl, and Java reference designs, is now available for download from the project website.

Abstract

The NetFPGA platform enables students and researchers to build high-performance networking systems using field-programmable gate array (FPGA) hardware. A new version of the NetFPGA platform has been developed and is available for use by the academic community. The NetFPGA platform has modular interfaces that enable development of complex hardware designs by integration of simple building blocks. FPGA logic is used to implement the core data processing functions while software running on an attached host computer or embedded cores within the device implement control functions. Reference designs and component libraries have been developed for the CS344 course at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and taught at a series of tutorials held in the United States, United Kingdom, India, China, Australia, and Europe. The open-source Verilog, C, Perl, and Java reference design is available for download from the project website.