DPDK-Based Adaptive Burst-Aware Packet Drop Reduction

Project Overview

This major project implements a high-speed adaptive packet processing system using the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK). The system detects burst traffic in real time and applies adaptive control mechanisms to reduce packet drops — a critical problem in modern data centers, cloud platforms, and 5G networks.

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Problem Statement

In traditional Linux networking:

• Packets pass through the kernel network stack (multiple layers)
• Each packet causes a CPU interrupt, wasting processing time
• During burst traffic, NIC buffers overflow → packets are dropped
• No intelligent mechanism exists to detect or respond to bursts in real time

Our Solution

Using DPDK's Poll Mode Driver (PMD):

• Bypass the kernel network stack entirely
• Poll the NIC directly from user space — no interrupts
• Monitor Packets Per Second (PPS) in real time
• Detect burst traffic when PPS exceeds threshold
• Apply adaptive packet dropping (50% drop during burst)
• Log final statistics: RX, TX, and dropped packets

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Key Results Achieved

Metric	Value
Peak RX Rate	~500,000+ PPS
Burst Detection Threshold	200,000 PPS
Traffic Generated	2,500,000 packets per run
Throughput	~616 Mbps (tcpreplay topspeed)
Dropped Packets (adaptive)	~50% during detected burst
Final RX (baseline test)	1,720,850 packets

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System Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Traffic Generator                     │
│              (tcpreplay / nping / ping -f)               │
└───────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                            │ UDP/ICMP Packets
                            ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   TAP Interface (dtap0)                  │
│              Virtual Ethernet — DPDK controlled          │
└───────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    DPDK PMD (Poll Mode)                  │
│         Bypasses kernel network stack entirely           │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌───────────────┐  │
│  │  RX Queue   │  │  Burst Detect│  │  Adaptive Drop│  │
│  │  (1024 desc)│→ │  PPS Monitor │→ │  50% on burst │  │
│  └─────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └───────────────┘  │
│                          │                               │
│                    ┌─────▼──────┐                        │
│                    │  TX Queue  │                        │
│                    │  Forward   │                        │
│                    └────────────┘                        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
                   Final Statistics
              (RX / TX / Dropped Packets)

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Project Structure

dpdk-major-project/
├── README.md
├── src/
│   ├── dpdk_baseline.c         ← Baseline: RX + PPS monitoring + burst detection
│   ├── dpdk_adaptive.c         ← Adaptive: burst detection + packet dropping
│   ├── dpdk_validator.c        ← Packet validation (Ethernet/IP/UDP check)
│   └── Makefile
├── scripts/
│   ├── setup_hugepages.sh      ← Setup hugepages after every reboot
│   ├── bind_dpdk.sh            ← Bind NIC to vfio-pci for DPDK
│   ├── run_baseline.sh         ← Run baseline test
│   ├── run_adaptive.sh         ← Run adaptive test
│   └── generate_traffic.sh     ← Generate burst traffic
├── results/
│   ├── baseline_results.md     ← Baseline test output + analysis
│   └── adaptive_results.md     ← Adaptive test output + analysis
├── docs/
│   ├── ieee_paper.md           ← Full IEEE-style research paper
│   └── project_report.md       ← Detailed project report
└── presentation/
    └── slides_outline.md       ← Presentation structure

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Setup & Run

Step 1 — Hugepages (after every reboot)

sudo bash scripts/setup_hugepages.sh

Step 2 — Run Baseline Test (Terminal 1)

sudo ./src/dpdk_baseline -l 0-3 -n 4 --vdev=net_tap0

Step 3 — Generate Traffic (Terminal 2)

sudo bash scripts/generate_traffic.sh

Step 4 — Run Adaptive Test (Terminal 1)

sudo ./src/dpdk_adaptive -l 0-3 -n 4 --vdev=net_tap0

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Technologies Used

Technology	Purpose
DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit)	High-speed packet processing framework
Poll Mode Driver (PMD)	Bypass kernel interrupts, direct NIC polling
TAP Interface (dtap0)	Virtual NIC used in lab environment
Hugepages	Large memory pages required by DPDK
tcpreplay	High-speed pcap traffic generator
nping (Nmap suite)	UDP packet burst generator
C Language	All DPDK application code
Kali Linux	Development and testing platform
vfio-pci	DPDK-compatible kernel module for NIC binding

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Authors

Abideepadarsan S K — B.Tech CSE, SRM IST (2026)
Vikkesh P — B.Tech CSE, SRM IST (2026)