Protocol Wrappers for Layered Network Packet Processing in Reconfigurable Hardware

A library of layered protocol wrappers has been developed that process Internet packets in reconfigurable hardware. These wrappers can be used with a reprogrammable network platform called the Field Programmable Port Extender (FPX) to rapidly prototype hardware circuits for processing Internet packets. We present a framework to streamline and simplify the development of networking applications that process ATM cells, AAL5 frames, Internet Protocol (IP) packets and UDP datagrams directly in hardware