Transcoding using P4 switch

[J.ZAID]

Hi everyone,

Is there any API that facilitates audio/video transcoding on runtime using P4 based SDN switch.  I appreciate if anyone could answer this query. Thanks.

Regards

[Eder]

Hi,

I have never heard of such a use case being built using P4. I might be wrong but you can always ask this on P4's Slack channel (See p4.org - Community).

As a side-note I would say that this looks more related to NFV. For instance, using something like a transcoder VNF, see this paper I think SDN is used for traffic steering in that paper.  I doubt that transcoding can be performed by switches but I might be wrong.

Cheers,

[Tom Tofigh]

It sounds like a great idea! We should at the principles behind the INT for observing the user experience and create a loopback for active run time transcoding.  Could P4 enabled smart NICs perform the transcoding function as well and act as a switch?

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[Tomasz Osiński]

Hi, 

I also didn't heard about implementation of transcoding using P4. This is not possible using a native P4 constructs. However, P4 externs could be used for such use case. Nevertheless, this will be possible only using SmartNiCs or a software switch, for which you can develop your own extern. 

This is interesting idea to implement offloading of transcoding VNF, indeed!

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[Eder]

Hi all,

And I agree with both, including Tom that this could be a very interesting use case. I have to admit that I don't know the exact steps that need to be done when transcoding. I guess this process requires manipulating video and audio when transcoding, which can be a challenge in the data plane. Also remember the problems when dealing with variable size header/payloads and the header size limit that one can parse imposed by targets. If possible, maybe starting with BMv2 externs could be a good idea, then maybe moving to SmartNICs as Tom suggested.

While not directly related to transcoding (I think), I remember myself making a few tests with H264 SVC quite some years ago. One could see a use case (similar to what Tom suggested) where the switches/NIC might help on forcing quality downgrade/upgrade informing servers about network quality. I would see this easier than manipulating video/audio payload at runtime (if that is what transcoding requires).

Cheers,

On Sunday, 7 June 2020 10:26:56 UTC+2, Tomasz Osiński wrote:

Hi, 

I also didn't heard about implementation of transcoding using P4. This is not possible using a native P4 constructs. However, P4 externs could be used for such use case. Nevertheless, this will be possible only using SmartNiCs or a software switch, for which you can develop your own extern. 

This is interesting idea to implement offloading of transcoding VNF, indeed!

niedz., 7 cze 2020, 08:22 użytkownik Tom Tofigh <tto...@gmail.com> napisał:

It sounds like a great idea! We should at the principles behind the INT for observing the user experience and create a loopback for active run time transcoding.  Could P4 enabled smart NICs perform the transcoding function as well and act as a switch?

On Fri, Jun 5, 2020 at 3:20 PM Eder <gan...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

I have never heard of such a use case being built using P4. I might be wrong but you can always ask this on P4's Slack channel (See p4.org - Community).

As a side-note I would say that this looks more related to NFV. For instance, using something like a transcoder VNF, see this paper I think SDN is used for traffic steering in that paper.  I doubt that transcoding can be performed by switches but I might be wrong.

Cheers,

On Thursday, 28 May 2020 12:14:40 UTC+2, J.ZAID wrote:

Hi everyone,

Is there any API that facilitates audio/video transcoding on runtime using P4 based SDN switch.  I appreciate if anyone could answer this query. Thanks.

Regards

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[Tom Tofigh]

+ couple of friend colleagues who may be able to help with utilizing P4 to implement this use very interesting use case.