Proprietary and Confidential to PMC-Sierra, Inc and for its Customers
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Internal Use
Document ID: PMC-2010146, Issue 4
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PM2329 ClassiPI Network Classification Processor Datasheet
of operation ensures high-speed command and data input.
Architecturally the PM2329 consists of three major functional blocks:
Policy Search Engine PSE
Field Extraction Engine FEE
Operation Control Logic: Operation Cycles, Descriptors and E-RAM
Each of these blocks is introduced in the following sections.
1.4.4 Policy Search Engine PSE
Operating at up to 232 MHz, the PM2329 Policy Search Engine performs multiple search operations on
input data against a set of pre-loaded rules. Lookup criteria or Search policies called rules are stored in the
Policy Database or Rule Memory. A rule is made up of an operation code and corresponding operand data.
These operation codes and operand data specify match criteria for multiple fields that make up the key
data. Rules related to a single Search/Lookup operation are stored in a Partition within the Rule memory.
A single search/lookup operation is termed an Operation Cycle (OC). It consists of applying the rules
within a specified partition to the key data extracted from the packet by the FEE. The result of an OC is in
the form of identification of the rule that caused a Match with the data presented by the FEE to the Policy
Search Engine. More complex rules can be created with the help of the Composite rule facility using which
up to four consecutive instructions can be combined to form a composite instruction.
1.4.5 Field Extraction Engine FEE
The FEE performs IP, TCP and UDP header analysis of every packet presented to the PM2329. It extracts
relevant Layer 3 addresses and Layer 4 port numbers together with protocol type from these headers to
form a header key. The FEE can also extract arbitrary data at any offset in the input data stream, thereby
enabling classification based on the packet data other than Layer 3 and Layer 4 header fields. The FEE can
also maintain some amount of TCP state information in the E-RAM if so desired. The FEE is Ethernet (II,
802.3 & 802.1p/q) aware and hence it can automatically identify offsets for the Layer 3 header. Likewise it
can correctly locate Layer 4 header offsets by correct interpretation of the IP options fields.
For applications where it is more efficient to carry out the IP/TCP/UDP header extraction externally, IP/
TCP/UDP header processing can be disabled in the FEE.
1.4.6 Operation Control Logic
The Operation Control Logic orchestrates the primary search and classification operations of the PM2329
device.