Networking

The unique architectural features in Speedster7t FPGAs enable innovative networking solutions for 5G, SmartNICs, high-throughput packet processing and traffic management, and data-path security.

Companies building future networks have the challenge of addressing the ever increasing and diverse data demands at an affordable cost. Two new paradigms that has evolved as a result are:

  • Processing is moving closer to the data source rather than data moving to centralized compute resource for processing
  • Software running in the cloud executing functions/tasks rather than on specialized hardware or local virtual machine

These factors are shaping the development of today's networks for the following reasons: strict latency requirements of emerging applications, sheer volume of data, the desire to optimize scarce networking resources and the need to connect billions of devices. As we look to the next decade, network infrastructure will become even more pervasive and integrated with every aspect of our everyday lives with the advent of technologies such as 5G, cloud, data center, to name a few. On one hand, 5G networks continue the paradigm of previous cellular standards in terms of driving bandwidth, but they also extend it to many more devices and usage models. Conversely, the rapid explosion in data-center network traffic driven by software-defined networking (SDN), Open vSwitch (OVS), and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) demands a new class of evolving accelerator cards with continually greater offload capabilities.

The Speedster7t FPGA family is optimized for high-bandwidth workloads and eliminates the performance bottlenecks associated with traditional FPGAs. Built on TSMC’s 7nm FinFET process, Speedster7t FPGAs feature a revolutionary new 2D network-on-chip (2D NoC), an array of new machine learning processors (MLPs) optimized for high-bandwidth and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) workloads, high-bandwidth GDDR6 interfaces, 400G Ethernet and PCI Express Gen5 ports — all interconnected to deliver ASIC-level performance while retaining the full programmability of FPGAs.

Speedster7t Solution

Many new and unique architecture features in Speedster7t FPGAs enable innovations in different networking technologies including 5G, network accelerators SmartNIC, high throughput packet processing and traffic management, and data-path security. Speedster7t FPGAs offer the highest performance interfaces including PCIe Gen5, fracturable Ethernet MACs up to 400G rates, GDDR6 for the highest bandwidth and lowest cost off chip storage, and DDR4/5 for large offchip bulk storage. Internally, Speedster7t FPGAs have been optimized to support high bandwidth data streams from these high performance interfaces with the new 2D Network on Chip (NOC) that enables efficient data transfers for multi Tbps of bandwidth in, out and across the FPGA fabric. An example of the aforementioned advantages is that Speedster7t FPGAs are the only FPGAs that can implement a Terabit Ethernet Switch (TbE) – a critical network entity for service and internet providers alike.

 

Advanced Networking

 

Speedster FPGAs Uniquely Support Full Bandwidth 400G Ethernet

Until recently, FPGAs have been at the center of Networking applications. In the past, designers would increase FPGA throughput by increasing the size of the buses that move data in the FPGAs. This methodology of increasing bus sizes no longer works. To support a 400G Ethernet stream, the FPGA would need to run a 1,024-bit bus at 724 MHz or a 2,048-bit bus at 642 MHz. Neither of these bus width options and FPGA performance are possible in today's most advanced FPGAs. However, Speedster7t FPGAs can easily run multiple 400G Ethernet datastreams using the new 2D NoC, which has dedicated circuitry to transfer the 400G data streams to the FPGA as 4 independent 100G data streams that are 256-bits at 506 MHz. Buses of this dimension and performance are easily managed in the Speedster7t fabric.

 

Application Requirement Speedster7t Value
Need for high-bandwidth external connectivity
  • Multiple ports of 400G Ethernet
  • Multiple ports of PCIe Gen5
  • Highest performance SerDes - 112 Gbps
  • XSR SerDes for extremely low interface power connection

Highest memory bandwidth for buffering >1 Tbps

Memory hierarchy

  • Up to 16 independent GDDR6 channels at 16 Gbps
  • Up to 4 Tbps of total external bandwidth

Wide and high performance data-path

Dataflow fabric optimized for high throughput data transfer and acceleration

  • Up to 20 Tbps of NoC bandwidth for high-speed, wide-data transfers
  • Traditional bit-wise routing plus new optimized 8-bit bus routing
  • Homogeneous FPGA architecture for custom matrix computation
  • Support for arbitrary number formats, routing structures and memory hierarchy

Substantial logic capacity to implement complex, custom algorithms

Scalable family of devices up to 2.6M 6-input LUTs of logic

Higher precision data formats for edge training efficiency

  • FP16, FP24
  • bfloat16
  • Only FPGA to support Block float 16
FPGA fabric for compute
  • Highly flexible compute for advanced applications such as beamforming
  • High data bandwidth architecture to support massive compute
  • Parallel packet processing engines to support compute intensive functions such as DPI

Substantial internal memory for queuing pointers, internal cache and scratchpad RAM

Up to 300 Mb of internal SRAM

 

  Access< Transport (incl. 5G) 5G Fronthaul Network Accelerator (SmartNIC) Network Test Equipment Security Appliance TbE Switch

Highest Performance SerDes

112G multi-standard SR/MR/LR PHY

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Ultra-short reach (USR), extra-short reach (XSR)

Yes Yes Yes Yes   Yes Yes (Silicon Photonics)

Most Advanced Interface IP

400G Ethernet – 16 lanes each running up to 100G

            Yes

SyncE, IEEE1588, Time Sensitive Networking

Yes Yes Yes   Yes Yes

Yes

PCIe Gen5, 512 Gbps per port

      Yes Yes Yes Yes

GDDR6 – 4 Tbps of memory bandwidth

Yes Yes     Yes Yes Yes

DDR4 – up to 3,200 MHz, 3DS stacked memory

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

DDR5 – up to 4,400 MHz

  Yes         Yes
Application-specific interface (e.g. CPRI) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Terabit-Speed Routing

Network on chip Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bus routing       Yes      

Fully flexibility bit-wise routing

             

High-Throughput Processing

Packet Processor/Traffic Manager

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Datapath cryptography

Yes Yes Yes Yes   Yes  

Machine learning processor

Yes Yes Yes Yes      

Fine-grain hardware reprogrammability (examples listed)

P4 – programmable pipeline

P4 – programmable pipeline Custom functions

Network diagnostics

Network diagnostics

Application-specific cryptography

P4 – programmable pipeline