XASM: A Foundation to Program the X2 With P4#

Speakers: Fabian Ruffy (XSight Labs), Vladimir Gurevich (XSight Labs)

• Why: The P4 ecosystem has been pipeline-model-bound since Tofino; if a new switch architecture (X2) breaks that model, it forces the P4 language itself to evolve. Watching a language's assumptions get stress-tested by new silicon is valuable even if the PM never programs an X2.
• What: The X2 architecture contrasted with the traditional P4 pipeline model (Tofino-style), how XASM maps P4 constructs onto X2, where current P4 cannot express X2's capabilities, and candidate paths for evolving the P4 language. (from abstract only)
• How: XASM serves as a programming foundation/abstraction layer between P4 and the X2 hardware, with concrete mapping examples and a candid limitations discussion.
• Where applicable: XSight Labs X2 silicon-specific, but the language-evolution conclusions (what P4 must gain) affect the whole programmable-datapath community.