Do switches dream of machine learning?: Toward in-network classification

Abstract

Machine learning is currently driving a technological and societal revolution. While programmable switches have been proven to be useful for in-network computing, machine learning within programmable switches had little success so far. Not using network devices for machine learning has a high toll, given the known power efficiency and performance benefits of processing within the network. In this paper, we explore the potential use of commodity programmable switches for in-network classification, by mapping trained machine learning models to match-action pipelines. We introduce IIsy, a software and hardware based prototype of our approach, and discuss the suitability of mapping to different targets. Our solution can be generalized to additional machine learning algorithms, using the methods presented in this work.