Data plane programming enables the programmability of network devices with domain-specific programming languages, like P4. One commonly used P4-programmable hardware target is the Intel Tofino switching ASIC. The runtime behavior of an implemented P4 program on Tofino can be configured with shell scripts or a Python library from Barefoot provided with the Tofino. Both are limited in their capabilities and usability. This paper introduces the Rust Barefoot Runtime (RBFRT), a Rust-based control plane library. The RBFRT provides a fast and memory-safe interface to configure the Intel Tofino. We showed that the RBFRT achieves a higher insertion rate for MAT entries and has a shorter response time compared to the Python library.

翻译：数据平面编程通过领域特定编程语言（如 P4）实现了网络设备的可编程性。Intel Tofino 交换专用集成电路是一种常用的 P4 可编程硬件目标平台。在 Tofino 上实现的 P4 程序的运行时行为，可通过随 Tofino 提供的 Barefoot 公司开发的 Shell 脚本或 Python 库进行配置。然而，这两种方式在功能与易用性方面均存在局限。本文介绍了 Rust Barefoot 运行时（RBFRT），这是一个基于 Rust 语言开发的控制平面库。RBFRT 为配置 Intel Tofino 提供了一个快速且内存安全的接口。我们通过实验证明，与 Python 库相比，RBFRT 在匹配-动作表条目插入速率方面更高，且响应时间更短。