Smart switch for offloading high bandwidth flows in a software defined network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12418477-B2
Application number	US-202418620725-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 28, 2024
Priority date	Dec 19, 2023
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

Bidirectional flows of a communication session in a software defined network (SDN) are efficiently managed. A smart switch comprises a digital processing unit (DPU) complex comprising one or more DPUs, and a switching complex comprising one or more network processing units (NPUs). The DPU complex is configured to disaggregate enforcement of policies of the SDN from hosts of the SDN. The switching complex is configured to perform network routing of packets in the SDN. The hosts are implemented on servers communicatively coupled to network interfaces of the SDN. The switching complex is configured to perform policy enforcement of data flows for communication sessions that are offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing data flows of communication sessions in a software defined network (SDN) implementing a smart switch comprising:
a digital processing unit (DPU) complex comprising one or more DPUs, and
a switching complex comprising one or more network processing units (NPUs),
wherein:
the DPU complex is configured to disaggregate enforcement of policies of the SDN from hosts of the SDN,
the switching complex is configured to perform network routing of packets in the SDN,
the hosts are implemented on servers communicatively coupled to network interfaces of the SDN,

the method comprising:
causing the hosts to offload, from the hosts of the SDN to the DPU complex, processing of a plurality of communication sessions in accordance with packet processing rules associated with the SDN;
storing, by the DPU complex in a connection table, session information for the plurality of communication sessions that were offloaded from the hosts of the SDN;
determining that one of the communication sessions meets a criterion for offloading policy enforcement of the communication sessions from the DPU complex to the switching complex, wherein the criterion indicates that a given communication session is to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex;
in response to the determining, sending, to the switching complex, a request to initiate processing of policy enforcement for packets of the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex;
in response to receiving the request, synchronizing, between the DPU complex and the switching complex, the session information associated with the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex, wherein the synchronizing enables data flows associated with the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex to be processed by the switching complex; and
performing, by the switching complex, policy enforcement of subsequent data flows for the communication session that was offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request comprises a FastPath++ packet that includes matches and actions for a given policy.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the switching complex is configured to create a data flow based on the matches and actions and process the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex locally in the switching complex without forwarding packets associated with the one communication session to the DPU complex.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the matches and actions include encapsulation with a SRC IP and DST IP.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending an additional FastPath++ packet to terminate processing of the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex by the switching complex.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the switching complex is configured to use an age of the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex to determine when to stop or remove the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the switching complex is configured to terminate processing of the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex in response to receiving a FIN/FIN ACK/ACK for the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining that the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex meets the criterion comprises meeting a bandwidth threshold.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization comprises parsing a plurality of packet processing rules to identify packet processing rules that are applicable to a source or destination of the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising returning policy enforcement of the one communication session to the DPU complex.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the returning the policy enforcement is performed in response to determining that the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex no longer meets the criterion for offloading policy enforcement of the communication session to be offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

12. A system for managing connections or bidirectional flows of a communication session in a software defined network (SDN), the system comprising:
a smart switch comprising:
a digital processing unit (DPU) complex comprising one or more DPUs, and
a switching complex comprising one or more network processing units (NPUs),
wherein:
the DPU complex is configured to disaggregate enforcement of policies of the SDN from hosts of the SDN,
the switching complex is configured to perform network routing of packets in the SDN,

the hosts are implemented on servers communicatively coupled to network interfaces of the SDN;
the system configured to perform operations comprising:
cause the hosts to offload, from the hosts of the SDN to the DPU complex, processing of a plurality of communication sessions in accordance with packet processing rules associated with the SDN;
storing, by the DPU complex, session information for the communication sessions in a connection table;
determining that one of the communication sessions meets a criterion for offloading policy enforcement of the communication sessions from the DPU complex to the switching complex;
in response to the determining, sending, to the switching complex, a request to offload policy enforcement of the determined communication session from the DPU complex to the switching complex;
in response to the request, synchronizing, between the DPU complex and the switching complex, the session information associated with the determined communication session, wherein the synchronizing enables data flows associated with the determined communication session to be processed by the switching complex; and
performing, by the switching complex, policy enforcement of subsequent data flows for the determined communication session that was offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the request comprises a FastPath++ packet that includes matches and actions for a given policy.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the switching complex is configured to create a data flow based on the matches and actions and process the determined communication session locally in the switching complex without forwarding packets associated with the determined communication session to the DPU complex.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the matches and actions include encapsulation with a SRC IP and DST IP.

16. The system of claim 12 , the system configured to perform operations comprising sending an additional FastPath++ packet to terminate processing of the determined communication session by the switching complex.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the switching complex is configured to use an age of the determined communication session to determine when to stop or remove the determined communication session that was offloaded from the DPU complex to the switching complex.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the switching complex is configured to terminate processing of determined communication session in re

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• De Grace Gerald Roy
• Bansal Deepak
• Tewari Rishabh
• Sharma Sushant
• Yuan Lihua
• Lu Guohan
• Shrivastava Pranjal
• Outhred Geoffrey
• Gupta Avijit

Classifications

• H04L45/566 Primary

  Routing instructions carried by the data packet, e.g. active networks · CPC title

• H04L45/74

  Address processing for routing · CPC title

• H04L47/20

  Traffic policing · CPC title

• H04L45/38 Primary

  Flow based routing · CPC title