STOCKHOLM — Chipset vendor Xelerated made its HX family of network processor units (NPUs) available to system vendors and service providers.  Xelerated says its unique,  deterministic dataflow architecture allows the HX family of NPUs to  process 100 Gbps of Ethernet traffic at wirespeed for any packet size.
The HX family constitutes a breakthrough of speed and integration, Xelerated says. It integrates Ethernet MACs, programmable switching and advanced traffic management for the delivery of fine-grained quality of service (QoS). The result is a single-chip solution with very high service density that enables  system vendors to design products for advanced Ethernet and IP services.
“If you view it from network operator’s viewpoint, the aggregation part of the network is where it’s critical,” says Johan Sandell, vice president of product management for Xelerated. “If you’re utilizing the network to 80 percent, it makes a lot of difference to the bottom line if you push it up to 100 percent. … If you have a network that’s predictable, you can plan ahead and get resources in advance. That’s a great benefit.”
To ease the development of  Carrier Ethernet switches and routers, Xelerated is making available software and tools, including its reference design kit (RDK), software development tools and data plane software.
- The HX RDK facilitates design, integration and testing for a range of high-capacity interface options, including 10GE, GE and Interlaken. It is a modular 1U switch flexibly designed for interoperability and verification of HX-based systems.
- The Metro Ethernet Application is data plane software that provides simultaneous support for Ethernet, PB, PBB, VPLS, IP, MPLS and OAM traffic with strict wirespeed guarantees. The software is provided in urce code to allow for system vendor customization.
- The Software Development Kit (SDK) is an integrated development environment for coding, testing and debugging of data plane software.
