SPAC: automating FPGA-based network switches with Protocol Adaptive Customization
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
With network requirements diverging across emerging applications, latency-critical services demand minimal logic delay, while hyperscale training and collectives require sustained line-rate throughput for synchronized bulk transfers. This divergence creates an urgent need for custom network switches tailored to specialized protocols and application-specific traffic patterns. This paper presents SPAC (Switch and Protocol Adaptive Customization), a novel approach that automates the generation of FPGA-based network switches co-optimized for custom protocols and application-specific traffic patterns. SPAC introduces a unified workflow with a domain-specific language (DSL) for protocol-architecture co-design, a library of modular HLS-based adaptive switch components, and a trace-aware Design Space Exploration (DSE) engine. By providing a multi-fidelity simulation stack, SPAC enables rapid identification of Pareto-optimal designs prior to deployment. We demonstrate the efficacy of the domain-specific adaptation of SPAC across a spectrum of real-world scenarios, spanning from latency-sensitive sensor and HFT networks to hyperscale datacenter fabrics. Experimental results show that by tailoring the micro-architecture and protocol to the specific workload, SPAC-generated designs reduce LUT and BRAM usage by 55% and 53%, respectively. Compared to fixed-architecture counterparts, SPAC delivers latency reductions ranging from 7.8% to 38.4% across various tasks while maintaining adequate resource consumption and packet drop rate.
Date Acceptance
2026-03-16
Citation
2026 IEEE 34th Annual International Symposium on Field-Programmable Custom Computing Machines (FCCM)
Publisher
IEEE
Journal / Book Title
2026 IEEE 34th Annual International Symposium on Field-Programmable Custom Computing Machines (FCCM)
Copyright Statement
Subject to copyright. This paper is embargoed until publication. Once published the author’s accepted manuscript will be made available under a CC-BY License in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy).
Source
2026 IEEE 34th Annual International Symposium on Field-Programmable Custom Computing Machines (FCCM)
Publication Status
Accepted
Start Date
2026-05-13
Finish Date
2026-05-16
Coverage Spatial
Atlanta, GA, USA
Date Publish Online
2026-05-13