NIC priority queue steering and processor unit frequency tuning based on packet flow analytics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12457178-B2
Application number	US-202117359303-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2021
Priority date	Jun 25, 2021
Publication date	Oct 28, 2025
Grant date	Oct 28, 2025

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system comprises a network interface controller comprising circuitry to determine per-flow analytics information for a plurality of packet flows that are received at the network interface controller and to facilitate differential rate processing of a plurality of packet queues for the plurality of packet flows based on the per-flow analytics information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a network interface controller comprising circuitry to:
determine per-flow analytics information for a plurality of packet flows that are received at the network interface controller and provided from the network interface controller to a plurality of processor units; and
facilitate differential rate processing by the plurality of processor units of a plurality of packet queues for the plurality of packet flows based on the per-flow analytics information, wherein a first packet flow of the plurality of packet flows is assigned to a first packet queue of the plurality of packet queues based upon sizes of packets of the first packet flow.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the per-flow analytics information comprises per-flow size metrics for the plurality of packet flows.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the per-flow size metrics comprise an average packet size of a packet flow.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the differential rate processing comprises polling of the plurality of packet queues by a plurality of processor units set to operate at different frequencies.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the differential rate processing comprises changing a frequency of a processor unit polling a packet queue of the plurality of packet queues.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein facilitating differential rate processing comprises steering the plurality of packet flows to the plurality of packet queues based on the per-flow analytics information.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein facilitating differential rate processing comprises providing at least a portion of the per-flow analytics information to a host computing system for use in a determination of whether to adjust an operating frequency of a processor unit polling a packet queue of the plurality of packet queues.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein facilitating differential rate processing comprises assigning a packet flow to a default packet queue based on per-flow analytics information for the packet flow and subsequently providing a portion of the per-flow analytics information to a host computing system responsive to a burst of packets of the packet flow for use in determination of whether to raise an operating frequency of a processor unit polling the default packet queue.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry of the network interface controller is further to, based on sizes of a plurality of packets of the first packet flow, send information to cause a processing unit that is processing packets of the first packet queue to increase its frequency.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry of the network interface controller is further to assign a packet flow to a high priority packet queue based on a determination that the packet flow includes packets of a relatively small size, wherein the high priority packet queue is processed at a higher frequency than at least one other packet queue to which the network interface controller assigns packet flows.

11 . A method comprising:
determining, by a network interface controller, per-flow analytics information for a plurality of packet flows received by a network interface controller; and facilitating differential rate processing of a plurality of packet queues for the plurality of packet flows based on the per-flow analytics information, wherein a first packet flow of the plurality of packet flows is assigned to a first packet queue of the plurality of packet queues based upon sizes of packets of the first packet flow.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the per-flow analytics information comprises per-flow size metrics for the plurality of packet flows.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the per-flow size metrics comprise an average packet size of a packet flow.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the differential rate processing comprises polling of a plurality of packet queues by a plurality of processor units set to operate at different frequencies.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the differential rate processing comprises changing a frequency of a processor unit polling a packet queue of the plurality of packet queues.

16 . A system comprising:
a plurality of processor units, wherein at least one of the plurality of processor units is to poll a plurality of packet queues of a network interface controller; and circuitry to implement differential rate processing of the plurality of packet queues by the plurality of processor units based on per-flow analytics information generated by the network interface controller, wherein a frequency at which a processor unit processes packets of a packet flow is based on sizes of packets of the packet flow.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein implementing differential rate processing of the plurality of packet queues comprises assigning processor units operating at different frequencies to poll the plurality of packet queues.

18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein implementing differential rate processing of the plurality of packet queues comprises dynamically varying a frequency of a processor unit of the plurality of processor units based on at least a portion of the per-flow analytics information generated by the network interface controller.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the circuitry is to set a timer in association with a change in the frequency of the processor unit and to cause the processor unit to revert back to a default frequency upon expiration of the timer.

20 . The system of claim 18 , wherein dynamically varying the frequency of the processor unit of the plurality of processor units is further based on platform data of a host computing system comprising the processor units.

21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein the platform data comprises a power budget for at least a portion of the host computing system.

22 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the per-flow analytics information generated by the network interface controller comprises an analytics score for a packet flow.

23 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media with code stored thereon, wherein the code is executable to cause a machine to:
implement differential rate processing, by a plurality of processor units, of a plurality of packet queues of a network interface controller based on per-flow analytics information generated by the network interface controller, wherein a packet flow is assigned to be processed by a processor unit of the plurality of processor units based on sizes of packets of the packet flow.

24 . The media of claim 23 , wherein implementing differential rate processing of the plurality of packet queues comprises assigning processor units operating at different frequencies to poll the plurality of packet queues.

25 . The media of claim 23 , wherein the code is to cause the machine to implement differential rate processing of the plurality of packet queues by dynamically varying a frequency of a processor unit of the plurality of processor units based on at least a portion of the per-flow analytics information generated by the network interface controller.

26 . The media of claim 25 , wherein the code is to cause the machine to set a timer in association with a change in the frequency of the processor unit and to cause the processor unit to revert back to a default frequency upon expiration of the timer.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Coyle David
• Ryan Brendan
• Browne John J
• Oliver Jeffery G
• Kadam Pallavi Manaji
• Ranganath Sunku

Classifications

• H04L47/628

  based on packet size, e.g. shortest packet first · CPC title

• H04L47/805

  QOS or priority aware · CPC title

• H04L47/263

  Rate modification at the source after receiving feedback · CPC title

• H04L47/2441

  relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ] · CPC title

• H04L47/822

  Collecting or measuring resource availability data · CPC title