IRIS processor develops cost effective communications platforms

Iris Technologies has released an addition to its network processing unit (NPU) family of protocol-independent, scalable processors that is targeted towards developing cost effective DSP-based communications platforms that have multiple applications. The NPU 3M network processor is offered in two versions, IRISNPU3M-AE and IRISNPU3M-SS, for use with Texas Instruments' TMS320 DSP processors. Both versions have a common core, consisting of five 32-bit RISC engines.

The multi-processors of the products and the programmability of the TI TMS320 DSP processors offer a cost-effective, re-configurable and up-gradable platform for communications applications. All signal processing required on the channel as well as the additional processing such as Layer 1 and Layer 2-protocol implementation are taken care of by TI DSP solutions while the packet processing and forwarding functions are off loaded unto the NPU.

The processor provides a forwarding rate of 3M packets per second and supports the CSIX and PCI interfaces. Peer to peer communication requires higher layer forwarding and routing capability for content switching. Packet classification and filtering is provided to support QoS and security. Support for 2D and 3D classification is also available.