The demands on networking technologies have never been higher and evolving to keep up with demand has never been more important. The P4 community has strong support and continues to lead the charge in open-source programmable networking, with a focus on enhancing and simplifying data plane programmability. This year was filled with significant accomplishments, events, and activities that solidified P4.org’s place as a major player in the global networking ecosystem.
New Releases
The P4 working groups continue to enhance the P4 specifications based upon guidance from the community. New releases of the P4 Language Specification and P4Runtime were released in the fall.:
- P4 Language Specification v1.2.5
- Improved type nesting rules (Section7.2.8)
- Clarified that directionless extern parameters are passed by reference
- Introduced distinction between local compile-time known and compile-time known values (Section18.1).
- P4Runtime v1.4.1
- Built on the v1.4.0 release; a partial list of enhancements is below, see (link) for the complete list.
- Controller Sessions, Roles, Arbitration:
- Clarify controller session establishment, maintenance, role and arbitration
- Simplify specification for arbitration updates for which there is no change to the controller’s election_id; in particular, a “no-op” arbitration update from a primary controller (the controller already was, and remains, the primary controller) is essentially treated the same way as an arbitration update which leads to the election of a new primary controller.
- Generated code
- Enable C++ Arena Allocation [42]by default in p4runtime.proto
- Added Rust code generation
- Meters
- Add a Type field to the MeterSpec message allowing users to restrict the type of meters that can be used for a table and a new eburst field to the MeterConfig message for use with one of the new MeterSpec types.
- Controller Sessions, Roles, Arbitration:
- Built on the v1.4.0 release; a partial list of enhancements is below, see (link) for the complete list.
Merging of P4 into the Linux Foundation
2024 was a transitional year as P4 became an independent project hosted by the Linux Foundation. This move primarily represented an administrative shift rather than a fundamental change in how P4 technology is developed and driven. P4 has retained its momentum and community-led, grass roots development model that has contributed to success. Developers, industry partners, and academia collaborate and contribute to the driving of the P4 roadmap and technology.
2024 ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Award
The paper that launched the P4 movement won the 2024 ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Award. The paper, “P4: programming protocol-independent packet processors,” was published in 2014 and authored by Pat Bosshart, Dan Daly, Glen Gibb, Martin Izzard, Nick McKeown, Jennifer Rexford, Cole Schlesinger, Dan Talayco, Amin Vahdat, George Varghese, and David Walker and published in ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, 44(3), 2014. Over the past decade, it has been cited over 3,000 times[1].
[1] Google Scholar
P4 Community Events
Members of the P4.org community regularly participate in events to collaborate, share knowledge and innovations, and contribute to the advancement of the P4 programming language and applications. In 2024 P4 hosted events including the P4 Workshop, EuroP4, and P4 Developer Days which offered an opportunity for the P4 community to collaborate and share knowledge and experiences. In addition, community members participated in events such as the Linux Foundation’s ONE Summit, Japan P4 Users Group, and the 2024 Google Summer of Code, expanding the knowledge about P4 beyond the immediate community.
2025: Looking Forward
We are planning some exciting activities and enhancements to the P4 programming language this coming year plus more educational and collaborative opportunities.
- P4 Roadmap – coming soon!
- Upcoming Events:
- P4 Workshop 2025
- GSoC 2025
- EuroP4 2025
- P4 Developer Days (ongoing)
Participate and Join Us!
It’s the perfect time to join the P4 community. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting your career, P4.org offers cutting-edge tools and a vibrant space for innovation, learning, and shaping the future of programmable networking. Don’t miss out – we have many opportunities for collaboration, education and contributing.
We are grateful to the ongoing support of P4 members in our open source community. Learn about the wide range of marketing and leadership benefits of membership and consider joining us.
Additional collaboration opportunities:
- P4 Working Groups – check out our calendar and join our open meetings to learn and contribute
- P4 Publications – across our broad community, members publish papers and participate in events that highlight P4 uses. We have created a repository – check it out
- Stay Connected