Hi, I’m Abhik, a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay. I am part of the Systems and Networking Research Group, working under the guidance of Prof. Mythili Vutukuru. My research focuses on programmable network data planes, Software-Defined Networking (SDN), and next-generation telecommunication networks (5G & 6G), with a broader interest in computer networks.

I submitted my PhD thesis in January 2025 and am actively seeking future opportunities in the area of Systems and Networking. My expertise includes in-depth knowledge of data plane hardware such as Intel Tofino switches, Netronome SmartNICs, and high-performance host networking technologies like DPDK. During my PhD, I also spent six months as a research trainee at Samsung Research India, Bangalore. My CV can be found here.

I’m originally from Kolkata, the “City of Joy,” in West Bengal, India. Thanks for visiting my website!

Research

My PhD research focuses on enabling the parsing of unstructured messages in the P4 programmable data plane. While P4 offers unmatched performance, low latency, and cost efficiency compared to user-space software, it is primarily designed for structured protocols up to Layer 4 (e.g., IP, TCP, UDP). However, Layer 7 applications often rely on unstructured message formats like JSON, XML, HTML, and gRPC, which P4 cannot natively parse. This limitation restricts P4’s applicability to complex application-layer processing, which my work aims to address.

To overcome this, we developed specialized P4 parsers capable of handling unstructured messages efficiently. Our research highlights the need for different parser designs based on workload characteristics, leading to a set of guidelines for selecting the optimal approach. These expand P4’s capabilities, enabling advanced applications such as 5G.

We implemented AccelUPF, a 5G User Plane Function (UPF), using our parsers on real programmable data plane hardware, including Intel Tofino switches and Netronome SmartNICs. Unlike existing approaches, our design seamlessly offloads both user and control traffic processing to the data plane, reducing costs and latency in 5G networks.

Additionally, we developed DeepSight, a P4-based in-network telemetry system for Layer 7 applications like 5G. DeepSight provides a high-level query language for telemetry tasks and automatically generates P4 code for Intel Tofino and other backends. We successfully deployed real-world 5G analytics queries using DeepSight.

For more details, please visit my publications.

Publications

1. Application Layer Telemetry in P4 and eBPF (under review)

2. Feasibility of Application Layer Header Parsing in eBPF and P4 (pdf)
   Conference: IFIP Networking, Thessaloniki, Greece, June 2024
   Authors: Ashwin Kumar, Abhik Bose, Khushboo Tiwari, Arnav Mishra, Abhishek Dixit, Abuhujair Khan, Mythili Vutukuru (All authors have contributed equally)

3. AccelUPF: accelerating the 5G user plane using programmable hardware (pdf)
   Conference: ACM SIGCOMM Symposium on SDN Research (SOSR), Virtual, October 2022
   Authors: Abhik Bose, Shailendra Kirtikar, Shivaji Chirumamilla, Rinku Shah, Mythili Vutukuru

4. Leveraging Programmable Dataplanes for a High Performance 5G User Plane Function (pdf)
   Conference: 5^th Asia-Pacific Workshop on Networking (APNet), Virtual, June 2021
   Authors: Abhik Bose, Diptyaroop Maji, Prateek Agarwal, Nilesh Unhale, Rinku Shah, Mythili Vutukuru

Work Experience

Student Trainee, Samsung R&D Institute India, Bangalore (SRI-B) (July 2022 - December 2022) Contributions: Building a 5G NFs on Tofino switch, Tofino switch installation, Exploring programmable data plane devices including Tofino Switch, Netronome SmartNIC and AMD FPGA.

Academics

Educational Qualifications

1. PhD in Computer Science and Engineering
   Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay – CPI: 8.45/10 (2018 - Ongoing)

2. MPhil in Chemistry
   Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay – CPI: 8.17/10 (2015 - 2018)

3. MSc in Chemistry
   Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi – CPI: 8.34/10 (2012 - 2015)

4. BSc (HONS) in Chemistry
   Scottish Church College, University of Kolkata – Percentage: 74% (2009 - 2012)

Teaching Assistentship

• CS 695 - Topics in Virtualization and Cloud Computing, Spring-20
• CS 101 - Basics of Computer Programming, Spring-19, Spring-22
• CS 347 and CS 333 - Operating Systems (theory & lab), Autumn-19, Autumn-20, Autumn-21
• CS 347M - Operating Systems (minor), Spring-18, Spring-21

Achievements

Competitive Examinations

• GATE in Computer Science (2018) – AIR 2129
• NET in Chemistry (2012) – AIR 30

External Review Committee member

• SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review (CCR) 2023

Talks

• IFIP Networking 2024 (Thessaloniki, Greece)
  Presented recently published work on parsing complex unstructured packets in P4

• Research & Innovation Symposium Computing (RISC) 2024 (IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India)
  Poster presentation on previously published work, AccelUPF, demonstrating how to build a comprehensive 5G UPF on the P4 programmable data plane

• Academic Research and Careers for Students Symposium (ARCS) 2023 (Bhopal, India)
  Lightning talk and poster presentation on previously published work, AccelUPF, demonstrating how to build a comprehensive 5G UPF on the P4 programmable data plane

• Google Networking Research Summit 2022 (Virtual)
  Lightning talk on Accelerating 5G UPF using P4 programmable data plane

• ACM SIGCOMM Symposium on SDN Research (SOSR) 2022 (Virtual)
  Presented recently published work, AccelUPF, demonstrating how to build a comprehensive 5G UPF on the P4 programmable data plane

• 5^th Asia-Pacific Workshop on Networking (APNet) (Virtual)
  Presented recently published work on a systematic offloading approach for the 5G User Plane Function (UPF) on the P4 programmable data plane.

Administrative responsibilities

• Core Team Member, Research and Innovation Symposium in Computing, IIT Bombay (2019)
• Hostel System Administrator (Hostel 13 & 15), IIT Bombay (2015-2018)

Extra Curricular

I am a nature enthusiast. I frequently take breaks to trek the lush greenery of the Sahyadri mountains. Within the Sahyadri range, I have trekked Kalsubai, Naneghat, Harishchandragad, Harihar Fort, Jivdhan Fort, Andharban Jungle, Aadrai Jungle, Rajmachi, Ratangad, and Rajgad. I also enjoy photography, particularly wildlife, landscapes, birds, and flowers. Previously, I maintained a blog at Serverlog and contributed to unix.stackexchange.com by answering user questions.