VNP4 Runtime Server

Overview

VNP4 Runtime Server is a P4Runtime-compliant gRPC server implementation for AMD Vitis Networking P4 IP. While the Vitis Networking P4 IP provides a shared library (libvitisnetp4drv.so) with APIs for IP table manipulation, it does not natively support the P4Runtime specification. This server bridges that gap by providing a standard P4Runtime interface, enabling:

• Standard P4Runtime Protocol Support: Full gRPC-based P4Runtime API implementation for device control
• Vitis Networking P4 Integration: Direct integration with AMD Vitis Networking P4 driver APIs
• Testing and Development Environment: Ideal for P4 users who need a testing environment or want to provide SDN capabilities
• Hardware Compatibility: Works with any hardware implementation using Vitis Networking P4 IP

Requirements

• Install Rust: https://rust-lang.org/tools/install/
• Install Vivado 2024.2

Building

Step 0: Clone Repository

$ git clone https://github.com/iHalt10/vnp4_runtime_server

Step 1: Build Vitis Networking P4 Driver

run vivado tcl:

set p4_file "./main.p4"
set ip_path "./ip"
set ip_instance_name vitis_net_p4_core
create_ip -name vitis_net_p4 -vendor xilinx.com -library ip -module_name $ip_instance_name -dir $ip_path
set vitis_net_p4_config [dict create]
dict set vitis_net_p4_config CONFIG.P4_FILE "$p4_file"
dict set vitis_net_p4_config CONFIG.TDATA_NUM_BYTES 64
set_property -dict $vitis_net_p4_config [get_ips $vitis_net_p4]
generate_target all [get_ips $ip_instance_name]

run shell:

$ export DRIVER_ROOT= "./driver"
$ cd ./ip/vitis_net_p4_core/src/sw/drivers
$ make INSTALL_ROOT="$DRIVER_ROOT"

Step 2: Build VNP4 Runtime Server

$ export DRIVER_ROOT="./driver"
$ cargo build --release

output ./target/release/vnp4rs

How To Use

step 1: Generate target-config

$ vnp4rs generate-target-config ./driver/lib/libvitisnetp4drv.so ./ip/vitis_net_p4_core/main.json vitis_net_p4_core

step 2: Run server

$ cat config.yaml
server:
  address: 0.0.0.0
  port: 50051

devices:
- id: 1
  mmio:
    path: /sys/bus/pci/devices/xxxx:xx:xx.x/resource2
    size: 8192
    offset: 0x100000
  cpuPort: eth0
  targetConfig: ./target-config.json

$ vnp4rs run-server config.yaml

Features

This project is under active development. Currently implemented features:

• ✅ Table Entries: EXACT match support
• ✅ StreamChannel: Primary controller arbitration
• ✅ Read/Write operations for table entries

Features planned for future releases:

• ⏳ Table Entries: LPM, Ternary, and Range match types
• ⏳ Counters and Meters: DirectCounter, Counter, Meter entries
• ⏳ CPU Port: Packet I/O support

We are actively working on expanding the feature set. Contributions and feedback are welcome!