Intel Corp wants a piece of the network processor market and says it will offer products beginning later this year including parts which deliver wire-speed multi-protocol support for LAN and WAN integration; quality of service support for voice over IP, and high-speed evaluation of quality of service tags.
The dedicated network processors are being designed to be used in high-end switches, routers and concentrators from datacoms and telecoms equipment providers. The chips will, Intel claims, be software programmable enabling developers to add features, unlike conventional ASICs whose technology feature sets have to be laid down a year or more before product release. Intel will leverage its recent $2.2bn acquisition of Level One Communications.
Sacramento-based Level One provides silicon connectivity products for high-speed telecom and networking applications. Intel says a vendor could provide ATM or Gigabit Ethernet switches to customers and at a later date reprogram the network processor for new wire-based services, allowing it to significantly extend the life of the product.
