P4Label: packet forwarding control mechanism based on P4 for software-defined networking

For software-defined networking (SDN), the match fields of the OpenFlow protocol are fixed and limited, packet forwarding lacks fine-grained control and a valid forwarding verification mechanism, and the forwarding device cannot effectively monitor packet forgery; therefore, we propose P4Label, which is an SDN packet forwarding control mechanism based on P4. Because P4 has the feature of allowing the data plane of the network to be programmed, we construct a new P4Label protocol header. For realizing precise control of the forwarding behavior of network packet, the data plane forwarding device verifies the source authenticity and integrity of the forwarded packet, clears abnormal flow such as malicious tampering and forgery of data, and implements fine-grained packet forwarding and verification capabilities based P4Label. Finally, the study constructs a P4Label prototype system based on the open source BMv2 software switch and verifies the effectiveness and performance of the mechanism through experimental analysis. The experiments are conducted in the Mininet simulation environment; the analysis results indicate that P4Label is a valid forwarding control mechanism that can guarantee precise packet forwarding, packet source verification, and packet integrity.