Multi-threaded processing with hardware accelerators

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 multiple threads of commands in a network processor having a plurality of processing modules and at least one shared memory:

• generating, by at least one of the plurality of processing modules, one or more tasks corresponding to each packet received by the network processor;
• receiving, by a module packet processor (MPP) of the network processor, the one or more tasks;
• associating, by a scheduler of the MPP, each received task with a command flow of the MPP, and writing, by a thread updates of the MPP, state data corresponding to the flow to a context memory of the MPP;
• scheduling, by the scheduler, an order of processing of the command flows of the MPP;
• if a processing thread of one or more multi-thread processors of the MPP is available:
• loading, by the thread updater from the context memory, state data for at least one scheduled flow to a corresponding one of the multi-thread processors;
• processing, by the corresponding multi-thread processor, a next command of the flow, the next command determined based on the loaded state data,
• wherein the step of processing the next command includes
• storing, by one or more virtual address translation tables in the corresponding multi-thread processor, control data associated with each thread operation that define an level of data access allowed to the next command in a local level-one cache in the corresponding multi-thread processor;
• and
• if the processed command of the flow requires operation of one or more of a plurality of co-processor modules of the MPP:
• sending, by the multi-thread processor, a co-processor operation request to a co-processor interface of the MPP;
• suspending processing of the first flow of the multi-thread processor;
• and
• switching, by the multi-thread processor, command processing from the first flow of the multi-thread processor to a second flow of the multi-thread processor.

A module packet processor (MPP) of 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 packet received by the network processor, the MPP comprising:

• a task interface configured to receive the one or more tasks;
• a scheduler configured to (i) associate each received task with a command flow of the MPP, and (ii) schedule an order of processing of the command flows of the MPP;
• one or more multi-thread processors configured to perform command operations for a flow of commands corresponding to each of the one or more tasks;
• a thread updater configured to (i) write state data corresponding to a flow to a context memory of the MPP;
• if a processing thread of one or more multi-thread processors of the MPP is available, the thread updater is further configured to load, from the context memory, state data for at least one scheduled flow to a corresponding one of the multi-thread processors;
• the corresponding multi-thread processor configured to process a next command of the flow, the next command determined based on the loaded state data,
• wherein the corresponding multi-thread processor includes one or more virtual address translation tables configured to store control data associated with each thread operation that define an level of data access allowed to the next command in a local level-one cache in the corresponding multi-thread processor;
• and
• if the processed command of the flow requires operation of one or more of a plurality of co-processor modules of the MPP, the multi-thread processor is further configured to:
• send a co-processor operation request to a co-processor interface of the MPP;
• and
• switch command processing from the first flow of the multi-thread processor to a second flow of the multi-thread processor.