Device Driver Issues in High-Performance Networking
John Michael Tracey and Arindam Banerji
Distributed Computing Research Laboratory
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556-5637
(219) 631-5273 (voice)
(219) 631-9260 (FAX)
{jmt,axb}@cse.nd.edu
Abstract
High-performance networking requires attention to operating system
support at the device driver level. Existing driver models, such as
those of Unix, are not necessarily well-suited to supporting
high-speed network interfaces. In fact, current drivers may represent
a significant obstacle between applications and the high-speed network
adapters they seek to exploit. Yet existing models cannot simply be
discarded. Certain trends in RISC processor design can also tend to
make existing device driver implementations less efficient. Specifically,
many drivers make extensive use of operations which are becoming
relatively more costly as RISC architectures evolve. This paper
describes an effort currently underway to develop device drivers
specifically designed to support high-speed network interfaces on RISC
architectures. We have analyzed the operation of some existing
commercial device driver implementations and modified one using
several techniques. Taken together, these techniques promise to
produce network device drivers which deliver the high level of
performance demanded by todays igh speed networks.
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