Chimpp: A Click-Based Programming and Simulation Environment for Reconfigurable Networking Hardware

Reconfigurable network hardware makes it easier to experiment with and prototype high-speed networking systems. However, these devices are still relatively hard to program; for example, the NetFPGA requires users to develop in Verilog. Further, these devices are commonly designed to work with software on a host computer, requiring the co-development of these hardware and software components. The author addresses this situation with Chimpp, a development environment for reconfigurable network hardware, modeled on the popular Click software modular router system. Chimpp employs a modular approach to designing hardware-based packet-processing systems, featuring a simple configuration language similar to that of Click.