Optimal Implementation of In-Band Network Management for High-Radix Switches

Abstract

To manage (such as configuring and monitoring) the numerous network chips and its ports efficiently, the in-band management technology is used in the interconnect network of high performance computing systems. However, with the rapid development of network switching chips towards the higher radix, the traditional in-band management implementation of ring structure faces the problem of delay performance scalability. The work proposed two optimized implementation structures for the in-band management, four-quadrant double-layer ring and four-quadrant star ring to solve the problem. The results of resource consumption assessment and delay performance simulation showed that in the high-radix switching chips with 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, and 160 ports, the occupancies of LUT (Look Up Table) resources of the four-quadrant double-layer ring and star ring structures increased by an average of $5.46\%$ and $1.71\%$ compared to the traditional ring structure, respectively. Meanwhile, the occupancies of LUTRAM (Look Up Table memory) resources increased by an average of $30.89\%$ and $21.81\%$; that of FF (Flip Flop) resources by an average of $3.86\%$ and $0.19\%$; the forward delay of management packets decreased by $25.75\%$ and $21.81\%$, respectively. Considering both resource consumption and delay performance, the star ring was an ideal structure to deal with the problem of delay performance scalability among the in-band management structures, which can be applied to realize the in-band management for the higher-radix switching chips in the future.

This work was supported by The National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant 2018YFB0204300).