Xilinx fills ASIC, ASSP gaps for data centres

Xilinx Inc. has unleashed solutions aimed to address the growing gaps in ASIC and ASSP offerings targeting next-generation smarter networks and data centres. The company has been acquiring and developing a SmartCORE IP portfolio and various application specialists and services that leverage Xilinx's All Programmable FPGAs, SoCs and 3D ICs. According to Xilinx, the solutions are developed for customers who need to rapidly create, differentiate and evolve intelligent, fabric-centric data centres and software defined networks (SDN), 'many-band' self-organising networks (SON) for LTE and LTE Advanced wireless HetNets, and 400G and Nx100G OTN solutions with high availability, low latency, low jitter and high Quality of Service (QoS) requirements.

Xilinx SmartCORE IP claims to provide the technology foundation needed to create an extremely wide range of next-generation applications ranging from data centre security appliances and resource-optimising top-of-rack (TOR) switches to extremely efficient mobile backhaul modems and smarter wired access equipment. SmartCORE IP-based solutions examples include: 1) "Service-level-aware," packet-based processing solutions with dynamic QoS adjustment for 100G and greater OTN networks, 2) Customisable DPD & CFR for Class 1 MC-GSM power amplifier linearisation with 60MHz transmission bandwidth including integrated ARM processor-based control for LTE and LTE Advanced wireless radios, and 3) 80Gb/s data centre NIC solutions with high-granularity traffic management, enabling the provisioning of a high number of traffic flows to accommodate new services and associated service monetisation.

Customers can add their differentiating 'secret sauce' comprised of smarter, adaptable algorithms and functions by quickly assembling unique combinations of SmartCORE IP embodied in highly flexible Xilinx All Programmable devices. The differentiating elements can be implemented using programmable hardware and/or ARM processor-based programmable software. Xilinx helps customers optimise their designs during the early architecture design phase with applications specialists and offers advanced design services for customers who require IP customisation or full system design support.