ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review· 2014Q1
P4
- 2,803citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2014year
Short summary
P4 is a new high-level language enabling field reconfigurability, protocol independence, and target independence for packet processing in network switches, moving beyond OpenFlow's limitations.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- P4 is a high-level language for programming packet processors in network switches.
- It aims to provide reconfigurability in the field, protocol independence, and target independence.
- P4 overcomes limitations of OpenFlow, which struggles with expanding header field specifications.
- The language allows programmers to define packet processing logic independent of specific hardware or protocols.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
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 OpenFlow 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 packet-processing 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.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, 2014 · DOI ↗
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Field: Computer Networks and Communications
Computer Networks and CommunicationsComputer Science