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Introduction to Network Processors

Introduction to Network Processors. Readout Unit Review 24 July 2001 Beat Jost Cern / EP. Little Bit of History.

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Introduction to Network Processors

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  1. Introduction to Network Processors Readout Unit Review 24 July 2001 Beat Jost Cern / EP

  2. Little Bit of History • September 1999 C-Port (Motorola) announced the first Network Processor (actual production only in 2001!). The aim was to provide a flexible means to handle frames/packets in a distributed manner at the input of high-performance switches and routers. • During 2000 several big companies also started developing NPs (Intel, IBM, Lucent,…) driven by networking industry • Today there are some 20 companies either offering NPs already or announced the development of NPs • Nowadays the market is dominated by small companies, but the biggies are catching up… • There are some 200 projects (“design wins”) currently underway. IBM is applied by Alcatel, CISCO, NORTEL,…

  3. Single Chips containing On-chip buffer space for network frames and routing table plus controllers for external buffer space Integrated General Purpose processor for control and monitoring and communication with outside world Integrated MACs (Media Access Controllers) for different technologies (POS, Ethernet) Large numbers (8-16) of RISC processor cores (freely programmable) usually with • Several hardware threads MAC/FRAMEProcessor HW Assist Routing and Bridging Tables Packet BufferMemory • Several Co-Processors for specialized functions, like CRC calculations, tree-lookup, memory copying, traffic shaping, etc. To and From PHYs Network Processors – What are they? Scheduler GeneralPurpose CPU ProcessorComplex SearchEngine

  4. Primarily as front-end stage of high-speed network switches/routers Network Processors – What are they used for? Conventional Switch Next Generation (distributed) Switch POS (packet Over SONET)/GbEthernet Doesn’t scale very well!!!! Scales very well

  5. Network Processors – What’s their advantage? The programmability of NPs • Gives flexibility to cope with new requirements and network protocols • Allows switch manufacturers to implement e.g. custom quality of service or flow-controls algorithms • Keep Time-to-market much smaller than designing and manufacturing custom ASICs (~6 months compared to 18 months)

  6. Summary and Prospects • Summary • NPs are a very interesting new technology for flexible network frame handling • Every major chip manufacturer has them in their product catalog • They can be used for data merging and other applications • Outlook • Next generation of NPs will be able to deal with 10Gb and 40Gb link speeds with corresponding upgrade in processing capabilities lower prices for current devices • Risks • Economical failure • Short life or discontinuity of a certain implementation (IBM claims NP4GS3 will be produced for 4-5 years) • Cost “The time-to-market benefits of NPUs are too great to ignore. Despite early disappointments, network processors are here to stay.”Bob Wheeler Senior Analyst Networking Silicon, The Linley Group Inc

  7. Scheduler GeneralPurpose CPU ProcessorComplex SearchEngine MAC/FRAMEProcessor HW Assist Routing and Bridging Tables Packet BufferMemory To and From PHYs

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