2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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<body bgcolor=white>
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<h1>Haiku Network Stack Architecture</h1>
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<p>
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The Haiku Network Stack is a modular and layered networking stack, very
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similar to what you may know as BONE.
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</p>
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<p>
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The entry point when talking to the stack is through a dedicated device
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driver that publish itself in /dev/net. The userland library libnetwork.so
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(which combines libsocket.so, and libbind.so) directly talks to this
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driver, mostly via ioctl()<sup><a href="#foot1">1</a></sup>.
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</p>
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The driver either creates sockets, or passes on every command to the socket
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module<sup><a href="#foot2">2</a></sup>. Depending on the address family and
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type of the sockets, the lower layers will be loaded and connected.
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</p>
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<p>
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For example, with a TCP/IP socket, the stack could look like this:
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<table cellspacing=1 cellpadding=5 border=0>
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<tr><td colspan=2 bgcolor="#aaaadd">Socket</td></tr>
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<tr><td bgcolor="#ccccff">TCP</td>
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<td rowspan=2 bgcolor="#ddddff"><p>Protocols<br>
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<font size="-2">defined by the socket (address family, type)</p>
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(session, transport, network layers)</font></td>
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</tr>
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<tr><td bgcolor="#ccccff">IPv4</td></tr>
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<tr><td colspan=2 bgcolor="#ddcc88">Datalink</td></tr>
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<tr><td bgcolor="#ffee88">ARP</td>
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<td rowspan=2 bgcolor="#ffee99"><p>Datalink Protocols<br>
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<font size="-2">defined by the interface (IP address, device)</p>
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(datalink layer)</font></td>
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</tr>
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<tr><td bgcolor="#ffee88">Ethernet framing</td></tr>
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<tr><td bgcolor="#ffdd00">Ethernet device</td><td bgcolor="#ffdd55"><font size="-2">(physical layer)</font></tr>
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</table>
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2006-07-21 13:48:33 +04:00
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Where TCP, and IPv4 are net_protocol modules, and ARP, and the Ethernet framing are
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net_datalink_protocol modules. All modules are connected in a chain, even though the
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datalink layer introduces more than one path (one for each interface).
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2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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</p>
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<p>
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When sending data through a socket, a net_buffer is created in the socket module, and passed
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on to the lower levels where each protocol processes it, before passing it on to the next
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2006-07-21 13:48:33 +04:00
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protocol in the chain. The last protocol in the chain is always a domain protocol - it will
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directly forward the buffers to the datalink module. When the buffer reaches the datalink
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level, an accompanied net_route object will determine for which interface (which determines
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the datalink protocols in the chain) the buffer is destined. The route has to be specified
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by the upper protocols before the buffer gets into the datalink level - if a buffer comes
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in without a valid route, it is discarded.
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2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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</p>
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<p>
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The protocol modules are loaded and unloaded as needed. The stack itself stays loaded
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as long as there are interfaces defined - as soon as the last interface is removed,
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the stack gets unloaded (which is, of course, not yet implemented).
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</p>
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<h3>The Structures and Classes</h3>
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<h4>net_domain</h4>
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<p>
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Every supported address family gets its own domain. A domain comprises such a family,
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a net_protocol module that handles this domain, and a list of interfaces and routes.
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It also gets a name: for example, the IPv4 module registers the "internet" domain
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(AF_INET).
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</p>
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<p>
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The domain protocol module is responsible for managing the domain; it has to register
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it when it's loaded, and it has to unregister it when it is unloaded by the networking
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stack.
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</p>
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<h4>net_interface</h4>
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<p>
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An interface makes an underlying net_device accessible by the stack. When creating
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a new interface, you have to specify a domain, and a device to be used. The stack
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will then look through the registered datalink protocols, and builds a chain of
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them for that interface.
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</p>
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<p>
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The interface usually gets a network address, and a route that directs buffers to
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be sent to it. If there is no route to an interface, it will never be used for
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outgoing data, but may well receive data from other hosts.
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</p>
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<p>
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An interface can be "up" (when <code>IFF_UP</code> is set in its <code>flags</code>
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member) in which case it accepts data - when that flag is not set, it will discard
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all data it gets. The interface also specifies the maximum buffer size that can be
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sent over this interface (the <code>mtu</code> member, a.k.a. maximum transmission
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unit).
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</p>
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<p>
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Interfaces are configured via ioctl()s (SIOCAIFADDR, ...). You can use the command
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line tool "ifconfig" to do this for you.
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</p>
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<h4>net_device</h4>
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<p>
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A networking device is used to actually send and receive the buffers. It either points
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to an actual hardware device (in case of ethernet), or to a virtual device (in case of
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loopback). Every device has a unique name that identifies it. When creating a device,
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the name also decides which net_device module will be chosen; for example, everything
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that starts with "loop" will end up in the loopback device, while the ethernet device
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accepts names that start with "/dev/net/".
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</p>
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<p>
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A device can be shared by many interfaces at the same time. The device to be used by
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an interface is specified at the time an interface is created.
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It also has an <code>mtu</code> member that determines the upper limit of an interface's
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<code>mtu</code> as well.
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</p>
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<h4>net_buffer</h4>
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<p>
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A buffer holds exactly one packet, and has a source as well as a destination address.
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The addresses may be changed in every layer the buffer passes through. For example,
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the datalink protocols usually use sockaddr_dl structures with family AF_DLI, while
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the upper levels may use sockaddr_in structures with family AF_INET. Every protocol
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only supports a small number of address types, and it's the requirement of the upper
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protocols to prepare the address for use in the lower protocols (and that's also a
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reason why it wouldn't work to arbitrarily stack protocols onto each other).
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</p>
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<p>
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The net_buffer module can be used to access the data within the buffer, append new
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data to the buffer, or remove chunks of data from it. Internally, the buffer consists
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of usually fixed size (2048 byte) buffers that can be shared or connected as needed.
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</p>
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<h4>net_socket</h4>
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<p>
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The socket is only of interest for the net_protocol modules, as it stores options
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that may have an effect on the protocol's performance. It's the direct counterpart
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to a socket file descriptor in userland, but it has only little logic bound to it.
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</p>
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<p>
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When a socket is created, the networking stack creates a chain of net_protocol
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modules for the socket that will then do the real work. When the socket is closed,
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the net_protocol chain is freed, and the modules are eventually unloaded (if they
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are no longer in use).
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</p>
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<h4>net_protocol</h4>
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<p>
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The protocols are bound to a specific socket, process the outgoing buffers as needed
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(ie. add or remove headers, compute checksums, ...), and pass it on to the next
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2006-07-21 13:48:33 +04:00
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protocol. The last protocol in the chain is always a domain protocol that will forward
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the calls to the datalink module directly, if needed.
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2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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</p>
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<p>
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2006-07-21 13:48:33 +04:00
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A domain protocol is a net_protocol that registered a domain, ie. IPv4. Other than usual
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protocols, domain protocols have some special requirements:
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<ul>
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<li>they need to be able to execute send_data(), and get_domain() without a pointer to
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its net_protocol object, as those may be called outside of the socket context.</li>
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<li>as mentioned, they also don't talk to the next protocol in the chain (as they are
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always the last one), but to the datalink module directly.</li>
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</ul>
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2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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</p>
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<p>
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2006-07-21 13:48:33 +04:00
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Similar to the need to perform send_data() outside of the socket context, all protocols
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that can receive data need to handle incoming data without the socket context: incoming
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data is always handled outside of the socket context, as the actual target socket
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is unknown during processing.
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</p>
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<p>
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Only the top-most protocol will be able to forward the packet to the target socket(s).
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To receive incoming data, a protocol must register itself as receiving protocol with
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the networking stack. The domain protocol is usually registered automatically by a
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2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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net_datalink_protocol module that knows about both ends (for example, the ARP
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module is both IPv4 and ethernet specific, and therefore registers the AF_INET
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domain to receive ethernet packets of type IP).
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</p>
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<h4>net_datalink_protocol</h4>
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<p>
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The datalink protocols are bound to a specific net_interface, and therefore to a
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specific net_device as well. Outgoing data is processed so that it can be sent
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via the net_device. For example, the ARP protocol will replace sockaddr_in structures
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in the buffer with sockaddr_dl structures describing the ethernet MAC address of
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the source and destination hosts, the ethernet_frame protocol will add the usual
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ethernet header, etc.
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</p>
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<p>
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2006-07-21 13:48:33 +04:00
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The last protocol in the chain is also a special device interface bridge protocol,
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that redirects the calls to the underlying net_device.
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2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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</p>
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<p>
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Incoming data is handled differently again; when you want to receive data directly
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coming from a device, you can either register a deframing function for it, or a
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handler that will be called depending on what data type the deframing module reported.
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For example, the ethernet_frame module registers an ethernet deframing function, while
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the ARP module registers a handler for ethernet ARP packets with the device. When the
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deframing function reports a <code>ETHER_TYPE_ARP</code> packet, the ARP receiving
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function will be called.
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</p>
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<h4>net_route</h4>
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<p>
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A route determines the target interface of an outgoing packet. A route is always
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owned by a specific domain, and the route is chosen by comparing the networking
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address of the outgoing buffer with the mask and address of the route.
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</p>
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<p>
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A protocol will usually not use the routes directly, but use a net_route_info
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object (see below), that will make sure that the route is updated automatically
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whenever the routing table is changed.
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</p>
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<h4>net_route_info</h4>
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<p>
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A routing helper for protocol usage: it stores the target address as well as the
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route to be used, and has to be registered with the networking stack via
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<code>register_route_info()</code>.
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</p>
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<p>
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Then, the stack will automatically update the route as needed, whenever the
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routing table of the domain changes; it will always matches the address specified
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there. When the routing is no longer needed, you must unregister the net_route_info
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again.
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</p>
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<hr>
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<small>
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<a name="foot1">1</a> You can find the definition of the driver interface
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2019-01-01 19:53:14 +03:00
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in <a href="https://git.haiku-os.org/haiku/tree/headers/private/net">headers/private/net/net_stack_interface.h</a>, as well as
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the driver itself at <a href="https://git.haiku-os.org/haiku/tree/src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/network">src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/network</a><br>
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<a name="foot2">2</a><a href="https://git.haiku-os.org/haiku/tree/src/add-ons/kernel/network/stack">src/add-ons/kernel/network/stack/</a>
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2006-07-21 13:34:45 +04:00
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</small>
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</body>
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</html>
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