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Vineet1101 wants to merge 11 commits into
HapCommSys:switch_channelfrom
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Feat/tm examples docs#29
Vineet1101 wants to merge 11 commits into
HapCommSys:switch_channelfrom
Vineet1101:feat/tm-examples-docs

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Vineet1101 added 11 commits July 4, 2026 02:22
…(P1-P2)

First stage of the high-fidelity Traffic Manager that will replace the
output-only NSQueueingLogicPriRL scheduler. This lands the standalone,
event-driven, thread-free core; it is not yet wired into P4CoreV1model.

P1 - Input-side VOQ + accounting:
  * VOQ[in][out][priority], 8 priority levels (7 = highest), N*N*8 queues,
    stored flat because TmItem is move-only.
  * Finite-buffer accounting: global / per-input / per-VOQ byte counters
    with configurable limits (0 = unlimited).
  * Admission control with explicit drop reasons (global, input, VOQ full);
    egress drop reasons defined for later phases.
  * Modular packet-format boundary: carries an opaque move-only TmPayload,
    never assumes ns3::Packet (bm::Packet wrapper comes with integration).
  * TracedCallbacks (enqueue/dequeue/drop/delays) and cumulative TmStats.

P2 - Fabric scheduler:
  * Priority-first maximal matching (one input and one output per round),
    behind an overridable DoRunFabricScheduler() so iSLIP / round-robin can
    drop in later.

Tests (test/p4-traffic-manager-test-suite.cc, 6 cases, all passing on
ns-3.39): enqueue/dequeue + accounting, priority scheduling, per-input VOQ
isolation, one-in/one-out matching, drop-reason correctness, and delay
measurement in simulated time.
Builds on the standalone VOQ + fabric core (P1-P2). Adds the ns-3
event-driven timing model and the egress side, all thread-free.

P3 - Event-driven fabric loop (opt-in via the "EventDriven" attribute;
default off preserves the manual RunFabricScheduler()/DequeueFromVoq()
API used by the low-level unit tests):
  * EnqueueToVoq arms a self-clocking fabric round (Simulator::Schedule).
  * Each round applies the scheduler's grants (VOQ -> egress) and re-arms
    while demand remains; the fabric is busy for the arbitration delay plus
    the transfer time of the largest granted packet (FabricRate).

P4 - Egress side:
  * Per-output-port strict-priority queues (8 levels, 7 = highest).
  * Serialising egress scheduler: non-preemptive, one packet in service per
    port, next packet chosen by strict priority, serialised at PortRate.
  * Egress finite-buffer accounting (per-port + per-queue) with
    EGRESS_PORT_BUFFER_FULL / EGRESS_QUEUE_FULL drop reasons.
  * Byte-neutral VOQ->egress hand-off keeps the global counter consistent
    (a packet is counted in global for its whole residence).
  * TransmitCallback delivery hook (move-only payload) for wiring to an
    ns-3 NetDevice at integration time; egress/total delay traces + stats.

DoDispose cancels pending fabric/egress events.
Adds 3 cases exercising the event-driven path under Simulator::Run,
bringing the suite to 9 (all passing on ns-3.39):
  * end-to-end drain: a permutation demand is arbitrated, moved to egress
    and serialised to the wire; buffers empty and every packet delivered
    via TransmitCallback.
  * egress strict priority: a packet in service is not preempted, but the
    highest-priority waiting packet goes next (order 2, 7, 5).
  * egress overflow: a full egress queue drops with EGRESS_QUEUE_FULL while
    the granted-from-VOQ count still advances.
Wire P4TrafficManager into the v1model core behind a default-off
EnableVoqFabric switch. When enabled, packets leaving the ingress
pipeline are steered into the TM (VOQ -> priority-first fabric ->
strict-priority egress) via a new BmPacketPayload wrapper; the TM's
TransmitCallback runs the egress pipeline + deparse + send.

The legacy output-queued path (egress_buffer, event-driven dequeue,
PortTxComplete, QueueDisc) is left fully intact and remains the default,
so behaviour is unchanged unless the switch opts in. Out-of-range ports
(CPU/drop) fall through to the legacy path.

- SetEnableVoqFabric()/GetEnableVoqFabric()/GetTrafficManager() accessors
- TM constructed in start_and_return_() once ports/link rate are known
- TM PortRate seeded from the physical link rate
Add an EnableVoqFabric attribute to P4SwitchNetDevice that propagates to
the V1model core before start, so the VOQ+fabric datapath can be turned
on declaratively (SetDeviceAttribute), matching how the switch is
otherwise configured. Default false preserves the legacy datapath.

Add examples/p4-voq-fabric-integration.cc: a self-validating end-to-end
check that runs a UDP flow over a 2-host/1-switch topology with the real
simple_v1model P4 program and asserts:
  - EnableVoqFabric=true instantiates a Traffic Manager and moves all
    traffic through it (VOQ enqueue + wire serialisation counters), with
    the sink receiving the data;
  - EnableVoqFabric=false instantiates no Traffic Manager (additive
    contract) and still delivers over the legacy datapath.

Shipped as an example rather than a unit-test suite because a full bmv2
P4 program cannot be booted inside the ns-3 test-runner (bmv2 per-context
PHV pools crash there); this matches every other P4-program scenario in
the module. Verified: both datapaths deliver an identical 296000 B
(functional parity); rc=0 for --run=voq and --run=legacy.
Review comment HapCommSys#2: a full-duplex serial link keeps pumping new bits behind
the frames already on the wire, so a slot must be able to start the next
frame as soon as the previous one finishes serialising -- it should not be
blocked for the whole propagation delay.

SwitchedEthernetChannel now tracks serialisation (m_State: IDLE/TRANSMITTING)
separately from in-flight propagation (m_propCount per slot):
  - TransmitStart is refused only while the slot is still serialising
    (TRANSMITTING), not while merely PROPAGATING.
  - TransmitEnd frees the slot immediately and bumps the in-flight count;
    delivery to the peer is still scheduled after the propagation delay.
  - PropagationCompleteEvent just retires one in-flight frame and never
    resets the slot state (a newer frame may already be serialising).
  - IsBusy() means 'mid-serialisation' only; GetState() derives PROPAGATING
    from a positive in-flight count.

Update channel-state-test-suite to the new semantics (TransmitStart now
succeeds during PROPAGATING; IsBusy is false while only propagating).
Review comment #1: the Traffic Manager decides which packet goes next, but
the PHY/MAC should decide when the frame is actually serialised and signal
completion back; and a frame must be counted as transmitted only after that
signal, not before it is handed off.

Add an opt-in completion-driven egress mode (attribute EgressCompletionDriven,
default off):
  - EgressServiceEvent() now hands the frame to the TransmitCallback FIRST,
    accounting only the queue-residence effects (buffer release + queueing
    delays) at dequeue time.
  - In completion-driven mode it then marks the port in-flight and waits;
    the datapath calls NotifyEgressTxComplete(outPort, success), which does
    the 'on the wire' accounting (totalTransmitted, per-priority, per-port
    bytes) and serves the next frame.
  - The legacy self-clocked path (PortRate) is unchanged and remains the
    default, so the existing unit tests are unaffected.

Review comment HapCommSys#3: IngressPipelineDelay was declared and had an attribute
but was never applied. It now delays the first fabric round after the fabric
goes idle (a freshly arrived packet traverses the ingress pipeline before it
can be arbitrated). Default 0 keeps existing behaviour.
Review comment #1 (datapath side): drive the Traffic Manager's egress from a
real completion signal sourced by the PHY.
  - Enable EgressCompletionDriven on the TM.
  - TmTransmit() no longer implies transmission is done: for a real send it
    schedules TmNotifyTxDone() after the channel's serialisation time (the
    PHY decides the duration); for drop/recirc/error paths it frees the port
    immediately. TmNotifyTxDone -> NotifyEgressTxComplete() lets the TM count
    the frame and serve the next one.

Review comment HapCommSys#4: dispose the Traffic Manager before the core is destroyed.
~P4CoreV1model() now calls m_trafficManager->Dispose() first, cancelling its
pending fabric/egress events and clearing the transmit callback (which
captures the core) so no scheduled TM event can fire on a half-destroyed
core.
Saturating UDP flow through the VOQ+fabric datapath with the switch egress
port as the sole bottleneck (ingress link kept fast so the queue-less host
NIC never limits). Measures goodput vs line rate.

Results: 100Mbps egress -> 97.13%, 1Gbps egress -> 97.09% of line (both at
the Ethernet/IP/UDP header-overhead ceiling ~97.1%), 0 drops, TM forwards
100% of offered load. Confirms the event-driven, completion-paced egress has
no artificial timer bottleneck.

One egress rate per invocation (bmv2 boots once per process):
  ./ns3 run "p4-voq-fabric-throughput --linkRate=100Mbps"
  ./ns3 run "p4-voq-fabric-throughput --linkRate=1000Mbps"
Design/validation doc for the Traffic Manager: VOQ -> fabric ->
strict-priority egress datapath, completion-driven egress + channel
model, the attribute/stats/drop-reason surface, and captured results
from the unit suite, the integration example, and the throughput
benchmark (near line rate at 100M/1G, zero internal drops).
Two UDP flows from separate sender hosts converge on one receiver
through the qos P4 program; HIGH (prio 3) and LOW (prio 1) contend at a
shared oversubscribed output port.  Strict priority protects HIGH at
~96% of its offered load while LOW is squeezed to the leftover capacity
and the excess is dropped from the low-priority queue.

Flows enter on separate ingress ports so each has its own VOQ and the
contention is resolved inside the switch (not at a shared host NIC).
Adds flowtable_priority.txt (3-host qos table) and folds the demo's
validated output into doc/traffic-manager.md.
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