Task Queuing in a Multi-Flow Network Processor Architecture

A non-transitory machine-readable medium, having encoded thereon program code, wherein, when the program code is executed by a machine, the machine implements a method of processing a received packet of a network processor, wherein the network processor comprises a plurality of processing modules and at least one shared memory, the method comprising:

• generating one or more tasks corresponding to each received packet;
• sending, by a source processing module, a task message corresponding to a corresponding task to a destination processing module, the task message comprising a task identifier and a task size;
• receiving, by the destination processing module, the task message;
• determining, by the destination processing module based on the task size, (i) an associated one of a plurality of task queues of the destination processing module in which to store the task, wherein each queue comprises one or more memory blocks in the at least one shared memory, and (ii) whether the task is larger than space available within a current memory block of the associated queue;
• if the task is larger than space available within a current memory block of the associated queue:
• determining an address of a next memory block in the at least one shared memory for the associated queue, and providing the address of the next memory block to the source processing module;
• and
• writing, by the source processing module, the address of the next memory block as a link address in a previous memory block of the associated queue;
• providing an offset address within the current memory block of the associated queue to the source processing module;
• writing, by the source processing module, the task to the at least one shared memory based on at least one of the provided offset address and the address of the next memory block, if provided;
• if a task is written to more than one memory block of the associated queue:
• preloading, by the destination processing module, the address of the next memory block to a local memory of the destination processing module;
• and
• processing, by the destination processing module, queued tasks without stalling to retrieve the address of the next memory block from the at least one shared memory.

A network processor having a plurality of processing modules and at least one shared memory, wherein the network processor generates one or more tasks corresponding to each of a plurality of received packets, the network processor comprising:

• a communication interface configured to generate one or more tasks corresponding to each received packet;
• a source processing module configured to send a task message corresponding to a corresponding task to a destination processing module, the task message comprising a task identifier and a task size;
• the destination processing module configured to:
• receive the task message;
• determine, based on the task size, (i) an associated one of a plurality of task queues of the destination processing module in which to store the task, wherein each queue comprises one or more memory blocks in the at least one shared memory, and (ii) whether the task is larger than space available within a current memory block of the associated queue;
• if the task is larger than space available within a current memory block of the associated queue:
• determine an address of a next memory block in the at least one shared memory for the associated queue, and providing the address of the next memory block to the source processing module;
• and
• provide an offset address within the current memory block of the associated queue to the source processing module;
• the source processing module is configured to:
• write the address of the next memory block, if provided, as a link address in a previous memory block of the associated queue;
• write the task to the at least one shared memory based on at least one of the provided offset address and the address of the next memory block, if provided;
• if a task is written to more than one memory block of the associated queue:
• the destination processing module is configured to preload the address of the next memory block to a local memory of the destination processing module and process queued tasks without stalling to retrieve the address of the next memory block from the at least one shared memory.