# RIFL: A Reliable Link Layer Network Protocol for Data Center Communication

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.08696 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.08696/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 15 Sep 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [The Feasibility of Implementing Large-Scale Transformers on Multi-FPGA Platforms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16158/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

More and more latency-sensitive services and applications are being deployed into the data center. Performance can be limited by the high latency of the network interconnect. Because the conventional network stack is designed not only for LAN, but also for WAN, it carries a great amount of redundancy that is not required in a data center network. This paper introduces the concept of a three-layer protocol stack that can fulfill the exact demands of data center network communications. The detailed design and implementation of the first layer of the stack, which we call RIFL, is presented. A novel low latency in-band hop-by-hop re-transmission protocol is proposed and adopted in RIFL, which guarantees lossless transmission in a data center environment. Experimental results show that RIFL achieves 110 nanoseconds point-to-point latency on 10-meter Active Optical Cables, at a line rate of 112 Gbps. RIFL is a multi-lane protocol with scalable throughput up to multi-hundred gigabits per second. It can be the enabler of low latency, high throughput, flexible, scalable, and lossless data center networks.