Design and implementation of kernel S/W for TCP/IP offload engine(TOE)

TCP/IP is the most commonly used protocol to communicate between servers, and is used in a wide range of applications. Unfortunately, TCP/IP places a very heavy burden on host CPUs. Server CPUs have begun to choke while processing the TCP/IP overhead associated with transferring data. We have known that the CPU power in today's servers is just sufficient to handle the TCP processing, leaving no CPU cycles for application processing. So, in this paper, to resolve upper problem, we present the design of kernel software for TCP/IP off-loading engine. In this paper, we define the design concept of TOE module, and describe its architecture, main functions and interfaces with TOE device. TOE module consists of three software layers, that is, TOE device driver, TOE offload protocol layer, TOE socket switching layer. TOE device and TOE kernel software have several advantages as below. First, it improves network and application performance, that is, increases network throughput and lowers client response time. Second, it extends the life of existing servers, that is, enabling existing servers to manage additional client loads and enables existing servers to respond more quickly to client queries