SDN-HDTN

This program is to be deployed on a P4-programmable switch as a middlebox in a DTN network to translate between bundle protocol version 6 and version 7. This is a proof of concept and is not production ready; it requires significant improvements or must be finetuned for a specific application.

This P4 program was designed for the following environment:

• Intel Tofino Native Architecture (TNA)
• Original Tofino ASIC
• Netberg Aurora 710 Programmable Switch
• Intel P4 Studio SDE version 9.7.0
• Hosts are using Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) v4.1.1 implementation of DTN, sending messages with bpchat program

For more context on this repository, see Towards Software-Defined Delay Tolerant Networks by Dominick Ta, Stephanie Booth, and Rachel Dudukovich.

Contents:

• setup.py: Control plane initialization script (sets up physical switch ports, IP match-action tables and debug digests)
• bundle_translator.p4: Main p4 file, creates pipeline and includes the following files
• headers.p4: Declaration of all expected protocol headers
• bundle_headers.p4: Declaration of bundle protocol related headers
• parse_v6.p4: Parser states for parsing BPv6
• parse_v7.p4: Parser states for parsing BPv7
• control_v6.p4: Control logic for ingested BPv6 bundles
• control_v7.p4: Control logic for ingested BPv7 bundles
• host_configs/
  • node1_config.rc: Example configuration file for a DTN host running ION
  • node2_config.rc: Example configuration file for a DTN host running ION

Ways to debug/test:

• Use tcpdump to capture packets on the end-devices (ex: sudo tcpdump -i any port 4556 -w test1.pcap). Can see if fields were modified correctly.
• Modify p4 program and manipulate what is sent in debug digest messages (messages from data plane to control plane), view output messages for each packet in control plane

Build process (assuming SDE environment is setup):

cd $SDE
./p4_build.sh [path to bundle_translator.p4]

To run the program:

Step 1) Open a new shell and start the user-space driver process to interact with the switch:

$SDE/run_switchd.sh -p bundle_translator

Step 2) Open a new shell and run the control-plane initialization scripts, keeping interactive mode up to view the debug digest messages

$SDE/run_bfshell.sh -b [path to setup.py] -i

Step 3) From shell in step 1, check the switch ports to verify all ports are up and enabled

ucli     // Enter micro CLI
pm show  // View ports
        If the setup script fails to initialize the switch ports, use micro CLI to reset the port manually:
pm show                 // View ports 
port-del 1/0            // Delete cage 1/lane 0
port-add 1/0 40g none   // Add cage 1/lane 0, 40G speed, no FEC
port-enb 1/0            // Enable cage 1/lane 0
pm show                 // View ports (may have to wait to see changes)

Step 4) Send packets between hosts connected via the switch. Use CTRL+\ to stop the switch processes.

To get ION working on Linux-based end-hosts:

Step 1) Download tar file from https://sourceforge.net/projects/ion-dtn/files/ion-open-source-4.1.1.tar.gz/download

Step 2) Extract

tar -xzvf ion-open-source-4.1.1.tar.gz

Step 3) Enter extract folder

cd ion-open-source-4.1.1.tar.gz

Step 4) Configure the installation

./configure                   // for BPv7
./configure --enable-bpv6     // for BPv6

Step 5) Compile ION

make

Step 6) Install ION

sudo make install

Step 7) Start ION with an ION configuration file

sudo ionstart -I [path to configuration file]

Step 8) Run BP chat program

sudo bpchat ipn:[??].[??] ipn:[??].[??]

Step 9) Send messages and then terminate bpchat program with CTRL+C

Step 10) Terminate ION processes

sudo killm
killm