Transmission features
The transmission functionality encompasses these features:
- Full line rate host-based transmission
- Up to 128 host buffers/streams supported per accelerator
- Traffic merge from TX buffers done in the FPGA
TX architecture overview
This figure illustrates a setup with a TX application.
The application writes frames to network streams, which map to TX host buffers. Data is transferred to the NT accelerator via PCIe using DMA for transmission on the specified port.
Transmission scenarios
Frames can be transmitted in different ways:
- On a single port from a single TX host buffer
- On a single port from multiple TX host buffers
- On multiple ports from a single TX host buffer
Typical TX application process
This is a high-level overview of a typical TX application process:
- The application opens a TX stream using the NT_NetTxOpen function.
- The application obtains a buffer handle using the NT_NetTxGet function.
- The application writes packet data to the buffer as required.
- The application releases the buffer to the stream for transmission using the NT_NetTxRelease function.
- The application repeats Step 2 to Step 5 as required.
- When the transmission is complete, the application closes the stream using the NT_NetTxClose function.
Transmission performance
Frames can be transmitted at the speed supported by the ports, the PCI interface and the transmission pipe, that is typically 200 Gbit/s for NT200C01-2×100, 100 Gbit/s for NT100E3-1-PTP, 80 Gbit/s for NT200A01-2×100/40 running at 2 × 40 Gbit/s, NT200A01-2×40 and NT80E3-2-PTP, 40/4 Gbit/s for NT40E3-4-PTP, 20/2 Gbit/s for NT20E3-2-PTP, 4 Gbit/s for NT40A01-4×100.
- The actual user application
- The number of host buffers mapped to the individual ports
- The PCI bus utilization level and hence the PCI bus latency
- General server performance
Transmission configuration
It can be configured on which port a frame is to be transmitted, and if it is to be transmitted at all.
Ethernet CRC
The accelerator generates a new Ethernet CRC for transmitted frames.