“The NP-4 marks a paradigm shift in the role network processors will play in networking systems in the years to come,” said Eli Fruchter, President and CEO of EZchip Technologies. “In addition to providing flexible layer-2 switching and layer-3 routing functions, it will offer applications aware processing. EZchip's NP-4 will offload critical tasks, in particular those related to video transport, from the system’s services-card processor, typically a multi-core general-purpose processor, to the line-card processor, typically an optimized network processor. Because there can be as many as 64 network processors in a switch/router chassis versus only one or two multi-core services processors, the offload of video transport can be very significant and greatly enhance the switch/router's performance.”
“We are seeing an excellent market response to these video transport features and the NP-4 in general, which is already generating notable design wins,” added Mr. Fruchter.
While telecom and cable network operators are now rapidly embracing carrier Ethernet networks and services, video over the net and high-definition IPTV are expected to drive explosive growth in network traffic. Hand-in-hand, switches/routers are becoming the central element for transporting the increasing traffic volumes, and for enabling the network to offer consumers a viewing experience of unmatched quality, flexibility and reliability. Consequently, it is necessary for switches/routers to support video applications and address broad demands for network quality of service, availability and reliability. With the increase in network traffic, it is becoming apparent that these functions must be performed on each of the switch/router’s network ports, i.e. line cards, to prevent it from becoming a crucial network bottleneck. EZchip’s NP-4 100-Gigabit network processor, announced last year, will feature extended support for video transport to enable video processing on the switch/router line cards.
In addition to integrating all the key components of a switch/router line card into a single chip, the NP-4 introduces applications-level processing features. Central to these are mechanisms designed to enable high-quality, large-scale video transport. Key features include:
- Elaborate service level guarantees on a per-flow basis to transport thousands of end-users’ programs simultaneously.
- Elimination of packet loss and retransmission during transitions in the network topology due to link or node failures.
- Enabling fast switching between viewing channels (end-user zapping).
- Scaling the network to support a large number of unicast channels (e.g. VOD) to many end users.
About the NP-4 Network Processor
EZchip's NP-4, currently in design, is a 100-Gigabit network processor with integrated traffic management and offers system vendors a significant cost reduction by integrating all the key components of their line card into a single chip. NP-4 main highlights include:
- 100-Gigabit throughput for building 20-Gigabit, 40-Gigabit and 100-Gigabit line cards for Carrier Ethernet Switches and Routers (CESR).
- Integrated traffic management providing granular bandwidth control to enable the delivery of triple-play services in Ethernet networks.
- Integrated 100-Gigabit, 10-Gigabit and 1-Gigabit Ethernet serial ports.
- Integrated Fabric Interface Chip (FIC) for direct connection to Ethernet switches that are used as switch fabrics while providing system-wide Quality of Service.
- Utilizes external memory chips based on low cost and low power DRAM technology.
- Operations, Administration and Management (OAM) processing offload.
- Software compatible with EZchip’s present NP-2 and NP-3 network processors.
About EZchip Technologies
EZchip Technologies is a fabless semiconductor company that provides Ethernet network processors. EZchip provides its customers with solutions that scale from 1-Gigabit to 100-Gigabit per second with a common architecture and software across all products. EZchip's network processors provide the flexibility and integration that enable triple-play data, voice and video services in access, metro and edge systems that make up the new Carrier Ethernet networks. For more information on EZchip, visit our web site at http://www.ezchip.com.
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