FEBRUARY 17, 2009 -- TPACK (search Lightwave for TPACK) has introduced the TPX4004 Carrier Packet Engine, which targets packet transport applications such as MSPPs, metro WDM, P-OTN, and Carrier Ethernet transport.
With up to 80 Gbps of switching capacity (in a configuration in which two chips operate as a single monolithic switch), a hierarchical traffic manager, and "extensive" hardware-based OAM, the TPX4004 is intended for any packet transport application. It is the only product available that fully supports universal line-card designs and the first 40-nm-based Carrier Ethernet switching device on the market, the company asserts.
TPACK also says the TPX4004 is the first product to fully support the new MPLS-TP standard evolving from ITU-T/IETF as well as hardware-based OAM and protection schemes
The TPX4004 is based on the TPACK SOFTSILICON approach, which is designed to provide unlimited interface options ranging from any mix of Gigabit Ethernet and 10-Gigabit Ethernet to support for both Interlaken and SPI-4.2. Interfaces include (per device):
- up to 40 x GbE
- up to 4 x 10GbE
- up to 2 x SPI-4
- up to eight lanes of Interlaken
The company says this flexibility enables it to quickly adapt a design for interworking with almost any switch fabric based on either merchant silicon or a proprietary design; programming by the customer is unnecessary. Additionally, the TPX4004 can be used as a packet processor in universal line-card designs.
According to Thomas Rasmussen, vice president, product line management at TPACK, the device will support 40-Gbps switching with only 18 W of power consumption.
"TPACK's model of supplying competitive, standard SOFTSILICON products such as the TPX4004 based on FPGAs is a good fit for the optical transport market segment," said Bob Wheeler, senior analyst at The Linley Group.
The TPX4004 is based on Altera's new 40-nm Stratix IV GX FPGAs.
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