Frame Processing

Link-Inline™ Software Features
Platform
Napatech SmartNIC
Content Type
Feature Description
Capture Software Version
Link-Inline™ Software 3.2

Frames are processed by functional blocks in sequence in the SmartNIC.

The frame processing pipeline on uplink

The figure below shows a high-level diagram of the typical frame processing pipeline on uplink.


Page-1 Sheet.63 Frame decoder Frame decoder Sheet.64 Flow lookup Flow lookup Sheet.65 Policy lookup Policy lookup Sheet.66 Usage counter update Usage counter update Sheet.67 GTPv1-U decap GTPv1-U decap Sheet.68 Source NAT Source NAT Sheet.69 MAC encap MAC encap Sheet.75 TTL decrement TTL decrement Sheet.78 Sheet.79 PCIe PCIe Sheet.82 Sheet.83 Sheet.84 Sheet.85 Sheet.86 Sheet.87 Sheet.88 Sheet.89 Sheet.90 Sheet.91 Sheet.95 Sheet.121 Rx Rx Sheet.126 RSS (queue select) RSS(queue select) Sheet.127 SDRAM SDRAM Sheet.128 Sheet.129 VirtIO DMA VirtIO DMA Sheet.130 VirtIO DMA VirtIO DMA Sheet.131 TX scheduler TX scheduler Sheet.132 Tx Tx Sheet.136 Sheet.137 Sheet.138 Sheet.139 Sheet.140 Sheet.141 Sheet.144 Sheet.145 NT DMA NT DMA Sheet.146 Sheet.147 IP fragment IP fragment Sheet.148

The frame processing pipeline on downlink

The figure below shows a high-level diagram of the typical frame processing pipeline on downlink.


Page-1 Sheet.1 Frame decoder Frame decoder Sheet.2 Flow lookup Flow lookup Sheet.3 Policy lookup Policy lookup Sheet.4 Usage counter update Usage counter update Sheet.5 MAC decap MAC decap Sheet.6 Destination NAT Destination NAT Sheet.7 GTPv1-U encap GTPv1-U encap Sheet.9 Sheet.10 PCIe PCIe Sheet.11 Sheet.12 Sheet.13 Sheet.14 Sheet.15 Sheet.16 Sheet.18 Sheet.19 Sheet.20 Sheet.21 Sheet.22 RX RX Sheet.23 RSS (queue select) RSS(queue select) Sheet.24 SDRAM SDRAM Sheet.25 Sheet.26 VirtIO DMA VirtIO DMA Sheet.27 VirtIO DMA VirtIO DMA Sheet.28 TX scheduler TX scheduler Sheet.29 TX TX Sheet.30 Sheet.31 Sheet.32 Sheet.33 Sheet.34 Sheet.35 Sheet.36 Sheet.37 NT DMA NT DMA Sheet.38 Sheet.39 IP fragment IP fragment Sheet.40

These figures are examples for UPF frame processing in the 5G core network. Alternative protocol encapsulation/decapsulation and frame modifications can be performed depending on the specific use case.

More information on supported header fields for encapsulation/decapsulation, see Protocol Encapsulation and Decapsulation.