Article

SoNIC: precise realtime software access and control of wired networks

Authors:

Hakim WeatherspoonAuthors Info & Claims

nsdi'13: Proceedings of the 10th USENIX conference on Networked Systems Design and Implementation

Pages 213 - 266

Published: 02 April 2013 Publication History

Abstract

The physical and data link layers of the network stack contain valuable information. Unfortunately, a systems programmer would never know. These two layers are often inaccessible in software and much of their potential goes untapped. In this paper we introduce SoNIC, Software-defined Network Interface Card, which provides access to the physical and data link layers in software by implementing them in software. In other words, by implementing the creation of the physical layer bitstream in software and the transmission of this bitstream in hardware, SoNIC provides complete control over the entire network stack in realtime. SoNIC utilizes commodity off-the-shelf multi-core processors to implement parts of the physical layer in software, and employs an FPGA board to transmit optical signal over the wire. Our evaluations demonstrate that SoNIC can communicate with other network components while providing realtime access to the entire network stack in software. As an example of SoNIC's fine-granularity control, it can perform precise network measurements, accurately characterizing network components such as routers, switches, and network interface cards. Further, SoNIC enables timing channels with nanosecond modulations that are undetectable in software.

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Cited By

Lim CLee KWang HWeatherspoon HTang A(2019)Packet Clustering Introduced by RoutersACM Transactions on Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Computing Systems10.1145/33450324:3(1-28)Online publication date: 30-Aug-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3345032
Shrivastav VLee KWang HWeatherspoon H(2019)Globally Synchronized Time via Datacenter NetworksIEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking10.1109/TNET.2019.291878227:4(1401-1416)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/TNET.2019.2918782
Neugebauer RAntichi GZazo JAudzevich YLópez-Buedo SMoore AGorinsky STapolcai J(2018)Understanding PCIe performance for end host networkingProceedings of the 2018 Conference of the ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication10.1145/3230543.3230560(327-341)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3230543.3230560
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

SoNIC: precise realtime software access and control of wired networks
1. General and reference
  1. Cross-computing tools and techniques
    1. Performance

Index terms have been assigned to the content through auto-classification.

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cover image Guide Proceedings

nsdi'13: Proceedings of the 10th USENIX conference on Networked Systems Design and Implementation

April 2013

546 pages

Editors:
Nick Feamster
Georgia Tech
,
Jeff Mogul
HP Labs

Sponsors

VMware
Akamai: Akamai
Google Inc.
NSF
Facebook: Facebook

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USENIX Association

United States

Publication History

Published: 02 April 2013

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Cited By

Lim CLee KWang HWeatherspoon HTang A(2019)Packet Clustering Introduced by RoutersACM Transactions on Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Computing Systems10.1145/33450324:3(1-28)Online publication date: 30-Aug-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3345032
Shrivastav VLee KWang HWeatherspoon H(2019)Globally Synchronized Time via Datacenter NetworksIEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking10.1109/TNET.2019.291878227:4(1401-1416)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/TNET.2019.2918782
Neugebauer RAntichi GZazo JAudzevich YLópez-Buedo SMoore AGorinsky STapolcai J(2018)Understanding PCIe performance for end host networkingProceedings of the 2018 Conference of the ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication10.1145/3230543.3230560(327-341)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3230543.3230560
Lee KWang HShrivastav VWeatherspoon HBarcellos MCrowcroft JVahdat AKatti S(2016)Globally Synchronized Time via Datacenter NetworksProceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGCOMM Conference10.1145/2934872.2934885(454-467)Online publication date: 22-Aug-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2934872.2934885
Lee KWang HWeatherspoon HMahajan RStoica I(2014)PHY covert channelsProceedings of the 11th USENIX Conference on Networked Systems Design and Implementation10.5555/2616448.2616465(173-185)Online publication date: 2-Apr-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2616448.2616465
Wang HLee KLi ELim CTang AWeatherspoon HWilliamson CAkella ATaft N(2014)Timing is EverythingProceedings of the 2014 Conference on Internet Measurement Conference10.1145/2663716.2663746(407-420)Online publication date: 5-Nov-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2663716.2663746

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