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InnoRoute has just started shipping its TrustNode extensible, ultra-low-latency (2.5μsec) IPv6 OpenFlow SDN router as a pcb-level product. The design combines a 1.9GHz, quad-core Intel Atom processor running Linux with a Xilinx FPGA to implement the actual ultra-low-latency router hardware. (You’re not implementing that as a Linux app running on an Atom processor!) The TrustNode Router reference design features twelve GbE ports. Here’s a photo of the TrustNode SDN Router board:
InnoRoute TrustNode SDN Router Board with 12 GbE ports
Based on the pcb layout in the photo, it appears to me that the Xilinx FPGA implementing the 12-port SDN router is under that little black heatsink in the center of the board nearest to all of the Ethernet ports while the quad-core processor running Linux must be sitting there in the back under that great big silver heatsink with an auxiliary cooling fan, near the processor-associated USB ports and SDcard carrier.
InnoRoute’s TrustNode Web page is slightly oblique as to which Xilinx FPGA is used in this design but the description sort of winnows the field. First, the description says that you can customize InnoRoute’s TrustNode router design using the Xilinx Vivado HL Design Suite WebPACK Edition—which you can download at no cost—so we know that the FPGA must be a 28nm series 7 device or newer. Next, the description says that the design uses 134.6k LUTs, 269.2k flip-flops, and 12.8Mbits of BRAM. Finally, we see that the FPGA must be able to handle twelve Gigabit Ethernet ports.
The Xilinx FPGA that best fits this description is an Artix-7 A200.
You can use this TrustNode board to jump into the white-box SDN router business immediately, or at least as fast as you can mill and drill an enclosure and screen your name on the front. In fact, InnoRoute has kindly created a nice-looking rendering of a suggested enclosure design for you:
InnoRoute TrustNode SDN Router (rendering)
However, the router’s implementation as IP in an FPGA along with the InnoRoute documentation and the Vivado tools mean that you can enhance the router’s designs and add your special sauce to break out of the white box (White Box Plus? White Box Permium? White Box Platinum? Hey, I’m from marketing and I’m here to help.)
This design enhancement and differentiation are what Xilinx All Programmable devices are especially good at delivering. You are not stuck with some ASSP designer’s concept of what your customers need. You can decide. You can differentiate. And you will find that many customers are willing to pay for that differentiation.
Note: Please contact InnoRoute directly for more information on the TrustNode SDN Router.
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March 30, 2017 at 05:54PM