Investigating Smart NICs in PCI Express Networks

Investigate the possibilities of using a Smart NIC to do in-network processing in a PCI Express network.

Smart Network Interface Cards (Smart NICs) are becoming more common in modern servers for machine learning and other high-performance computing workloads. A Smart NIC such as the NVIDIA Bluefield 3 contains several general-purpose ARM processor cores, specialised accelerators, and the network interface. These cards typically run a complete operating system (Linux), which can be fully programmed.

Goal

Understand and benchmark the capabilities of modern Smart NICs, such as the NVIDIA Bluefield 3, work together with our industry partner, Dolphin Interconnect Solutions, to integrate the Smart NIC into their PCI Express networks, and investigate how the in-network processing can be used to accelerate workloads such as machine learning.

Learning outcome

Upon successful completion of this thesis, the student will have gained:

Knowledge and understanding of how to use a SmartNIC to do in-network processing, and how this can accelerate modern workloads such as machine learning.
Expertise in operating systems and hardware development: Practical knowledge of low-level interactions between hardware and software.
Problem-solving in cutting-edge technologies: Experience in tackling open research problems that span applications and hardware. The ability to analyze system behavior from device-level to overall system performance.
Software development: Practical experience with Dolphin ICS' and NVIDIA Bluefield hardware and driver stack, as well as other open- and closed-source hardware and software platforms.

Qualifications

Strong motivation for hands-on experimental work with hardware.
Proficiency in C programming and experience with developer tools such as Git.
Experience in working with computer architecture and operating systems.
Basic understanding of networking concepts.
The student should have completed IN3000 or equivalent.

Supervisors

Håkon Kvale Stensland

Collaboration partners

Dolphin Interconnect Solutions