Network Function Virtualization based on FPGAs:A Framework for all-Programmable network devices

TL;DR

This paper proposes using FPGAs as a flexible and high-performance platform for Network Function Virtualization, enabling dynamic reconfiguration for adaptable network services.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for FPGA-based NFV, highlighting the potential for combining virtualization flexibility with hardware acceleration.

Findings

FPGAs can dynamically reconfigure for network functions

FPGA-based NFV offers high performance and flexibility

Early implementation shows promising results

Abstract

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) refers to the use of commodity hardware resources as the basic platform to perform specialized network functions as opposed to specialized hardware devices. Currently, NFV is mainly implemented based on general purpose processors, or general purpose network processors. In this paper we propose the use of FPGAs as an ideal platform for NFV that can be used to provide both the flexibility of virtualizations and the high performance of the specialized hardware. We present the early attempts of using FPGAs dynamic reconfiguration in network processing applications to provide flexible network functions and we present the opportunities for an FPGA-based NFV platform.