DOCA Documentation v1.5.3 LTS

File Compression

NVIDIA DOCA File Compression Application Guide

This document provides a file compression implementation on top of the NVIDIA® BlueField® DPU.

The file compression application exhibits how to use the DOCA Compress API to compress and decompress data using hardware acceleration as well as sending and receiving it using DOCA Comm Channel API.

The application's logic includes both a client and a server:

  • Client side – the application opens a file, compresses it, and sends to the server the checksum of the source file alongside the compressed data
  • Server side – the application saves the received file in a buffer, decompresses it, and compares the received checksum with the calculated one

The file compression application client runs on the host and the server runs on the DPU.

system-design-diagram.png

The file compression application runs on top of the DOCA Comm Channel API to send and receive the file from the host and to the DPU.

app-arch.png

  1. Connection is established on both sides by DOCA Comm Channel API.
  2. Client submits compress job with DOCA Compress API and sends the result to the server.
  3. Client sends the number of messages needed to send the compressed content of the file.
  4. Client sends data segments in size of up to 4080 bytes.
  5. Server saves the received data in a buffer and submits a decompress job.
  6. Server sends an ACK message to the client when all parts of the file are received successfully.
  7. Server compares the received checksum to the calculated checksum.
  8. Server writes the decompressed data to an output file.

This application leverages the following DOCA libraries:

  1. Parse application argument.
    1. Initialize arg parser resources and register DOCA general parameters.
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      doca_argp_init();

    2. Register file compression application parameters.
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      register_file_compression_params();

    3. Parse the arguments.
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      doca_argp_start();

      1. Parse app flags.
  2. Set queue-pair attributes.
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    set_endpoint_properties();

    1. Set maximum message size of 4080 bytes.
    2. Set maximum messages allowed on queue pair.
  3. Create Comm Channel endpoint.
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    doca_comm_channel_ep_create();

    1. Create endpoint for client/server.
  4. Create compress context.
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    doca_compress_create();

    1. Create compress context for submitting compress jobs for client/server.
  5. Run client/server main logic.
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    file_compression_client/server();

  6. Clean up the file compression application.
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    file_compression_cleanup();

    1. Free all application resources.
  7. Arg parser destroy.
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    doca_argp_destroy()

  1. Refer to the following documents:
  2. The file compression binary is located under /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression. To build all the applications together, run:
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    cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/ meson build ninja -C build

  3. To build only the file compression application:
    1. Edit the following flags in /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/meson_options.txt:
      • Set enable_all_applications to false
      • Set enable_file_compression to true
    2. Run the commands in step 2.
      Note:

      doca_file_compression is created under ./build/file_compression/src/.

    Application usage:

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    Usage: doca_file_compression [DOCA Flags] [Program Flags] DOCA Flags: -h, --help Print a help synopsis -v, --version Print program version information -l, --log-level Set the log level for the program <CRITICAL=20, ERROR=30, WARNING=40, INFO=50, DEBUG=60> Program Flags: -d, --dev-pci Comm Channel DOCA device PCI address -r, --rep-pci Comm Channel DOCA device representor PCI address -f, --file File to send by the client / File to write by the server

    Note:

    For additional information on the application, use -h option:

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    /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression -h


  4. CLI example for running the application on BlueField:
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    /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression -d 03:00.0 -r 3b:00.0 -f received.txt

  5. CLI example for running the application on the host:
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    /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression -d 3b:00.0 -f send.txt

    Note:

    Refer to section "Running DOCA Application on Host" in NVIDIA DOCA Virtual Functions User Guide.

  6. To run doca_file_compression using a JSON file:
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    doca_file_compression --json [json_file]

    For example:
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    cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin ./file_compression --json ./file_compression_params.json


For more information, refer to NVIDIA DOCA Arg Parser User Guide.
Flag Type Short Flag Long Flag/JSON Key Description JSON Content
General Flags l log-level Set the log level for the application:
  • CRITICAL=20
  • ERROR=30
  • WARNING=40
  • INFO=50
  • DEBUG=60
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"log-level": 60

v version Print program version information N/A
h help Print a help synopsis N/A
Program Flags f file

For client – path to the file to be sent

For server – path to write the file into

Note:

This is mandatory flag.

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"file": "/tmp/data.txt"

d dev-pci Comm Channel DOCA device PCIe address
Note:

This is mandatory flag.

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"dev-pci": 03:00.1

r rep-pci Comm Channel DOCA device representor PCIe address
Note:

This flag is a mandatory only on the DPU.

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"rep-pci": b1:00.1


  • /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/src/file_compression.c

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