Virtex in the NIC

posted by Loring Wirbel on 03/26/2009   |   comments 0

I’ll be summarizing a couple key product introductions at the Optical Fibers in Communications Conference in EDN’s special developers’ site, Dev-Monkey, later today. But the concentration on high-speed serial communications made it relevant to mention a new network interface card from AdvancedIO Systems Inc., based on the Xilinx Virtex-5.

As Gigabit Ethernet NICs move from 10-Gbits/sec to 40 and 100 Gbits, the use of an FPGA to handle combined Medium Access Control (MAC) and physical-layer functions actually makes a lot of sense. But it also disrupts a well-established ASSP market dominated by the likes of Broadcom Corp. and Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc.

AdvancedIO, based in Vancouver, BC, isn’t assuming that full-sized NICs suddenly will be populated by FPGAs. But in this company’s particular implementation, putting 10-Gbit channels on an Advanced Mezzanine Card, the choice of an FPGA makes a lot of sense in the real-time embedded market AdvancedIO serves. The Virtex-5 was chosen because the company can implement a real-time packet-processing engine so that the type of acknowledgement delays experienced in client-server Gigabit Ethernet applications are not commonplace here.

The V3021 is the latest in a series of AMC NICs intended for Advanced Telecommunication Computing Architecture (ATCA) and MicroTCA applications. In addition to using the Virtex-5, the new card also features dual 10-Gbit Ethernet SFP+ optical ports, on-chip SRAM, and PCI Express channels in x 4 or x 8 configurations. The standard card uses the LX110T Virtex-5, though customers can also specify LX330T or FX200T.

Two interesting factors to consider here: AdvancedIO is targeting the signals intelligence and situational awareness markets, which I suggested a month or so ago were more immune to recessionary pressures than most vertical markets. Second, the realm of the multi-gigabit Ethernet MAC/PHY is one of several realms I’ve mentioned in the last week that were once the sole province of ASICs or ASSPs. AdvancedIO’s move will not change the NIC market overnight, but in the words of conspiracy-theory radio host Dave Emory, “it’s certainly food for thought and grounds for further research.”

 

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