Knowledge-based processors (KBPs) are used for processing packets in
computer network
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections ar ...
s. Knowledge-based processors are designed with the goal of increased performance of the
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. I ...
network. By contributing to the buildout of the IPv6 network, KBPs provide the means to an improved and secure networking system.
Standards
All networks are required to perform the following functions:
# IPv4/IPv6 multilayer packet/flow classification
# Policy-based routing and Policy enforcement (QoS)
# Longest Prefix Match (CIDR)
# Differentiated Services (DiffServ)
# IP Security (IPSec)
# Server Load Balancing
# Transaction verification
All of the above functions must occur at high speeds in advanced networks. Knowledge-based processors contain embedded databases that store information required to process packets that travel through a network at wireline speeds. Knowledge based processors are a new addition to intelligent networking that allow these functions to occur at high speeds and at the same time provide for lower power consumption.
Knowledge-based processors currently target the 3rd layer of the 7 layer
OSI model which is devoted to packet processing.
Advantages
The advantages that knowledge based processors offer are the ability to execute multiple simultaneous decision making processes for a range of network-aware processing functions. These include routing,
Quality of service
Quality of service (QoS) is the description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as a telephony or computer network, or a cloud computing service, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network. To quantitat ...
(QOS), access control for both security and billing, as well as the forwarding of voice/video packets. These functions improve the performance of advanced Internet applications in IPv6 networks such as
VOD (Video on demand),
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Interne ...
(voice over Internet protocol), and streaming of video and audio.
Knowledge-based processors use a variety of techniques to improve network functioning such as parallel processing, deep pipelining and advanced power management techniques. Improvements in each of these areas allows for existing components to carry on their functions at wireline speeds more efficiently thus improving the performance of the overall network.{{Citation needed, date=September 2022
The databases in a knowledge-based processor include classification tables, forwarding tables, and exact match tables- all of which are utilized by the CPU and network processors.
Knowledge based processors mainly process packet headers (20% of the packet approximately) which enables network awareness. Content processors, by contrast, allow for packet payload inspection (80% of the packet is data) and therefore must search "deeper" into the packet.
See also
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Network processor
A network processor is an integrated circuit which has a feature set specifically targeted at the Computer networking, networking application domain.
Network processors are typically software programmable devices and would have generic characteris ...
*
Multi core processor
*
Content processor {{unreferenced, date=February 2013
Content processors are sometimes confused with network processors that inspect the packet payload of an IP packet travelling through a computer network. These components allow for the design and deployment of nex ...
References
Computer networks