Protocol-independent receive-side scaling

A chip, comprising:

• one or more memories storing a plurality of flow hash N-tuple definitions, each flow hash N-tuple definition corresponding to one of a set of possible protocol header combinations for routing an incoming packet, the set of possible protocol header combinations being modifiable to include later-developed protocols;
• and
• one or more processors in communication with the one or more memories, the one or more processors configured to:
• detect, based on a packet header of the incoming packet, a pattern of protocol headers;
• determine, for the incoming packet, a flow hash N-tuple definition based on the detected pattern of protocol headers;
• apply the flow hash N-tuple definition to the incoming packet to form a flow hash N-tuple header vector;
• compute a flow hash from the flow hash N-tuple header vector;
• and
• identify, based on the computed flow hash, a set of destination queues for the incoming packet.

A system, comprising:

• a hypervisor having a first plurality of receive queues;
• a virtual machine having a second plurality of receive queues;
• and
• a chip coupled to the hypervisor and the virtual machine, wherein the chip is configured to:
• receive an incoming packet;
• determine, for the incoming packet, a flow hash N-tuple definition;
• apply the flow hash N-tuple definition to the incoming packet to form a flow hash N-tuple header vector;
• compute a flow hash from the flow hash N-tuple header vector;
• and
• identify, based on the computed flow hash, a set of destination queues for the incoming packet.