Eurotech VULCAN-533-M64-F16, Техническое руководство

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VULCAN Technical Manual Detailed hardware description
© 2007 Eurotech Ltd Issue D
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The three NPEs in the Intel IXP425 network processor are designed to complement
the Intel XScale core for many computationally-intensive communications applications.
These tasks include:
• IP header inspection and modification.
• Packet filtering.
• Packet error checking.
• Checksum computation.
• Flag insertion and removal.
The NPE architecture includes an ALU, self-contained internal data memory and an
extensive list of I/O interfaces, together with hardware acceleration elements. The
hardware acceleration elements associated with an NPE target a set of networking
applications. Each hardware acceleration element is designed to increase the speed of
a specific networking task that would otherwise take many MIPS to complete using a
stand-alone RISC processor. Each NPE can handle layer 2 and, in some cases, layer
3 packets.
The Intel IXP425 network processor provides integrated hardware acceleration for
security applications. The network processor implements DES, 3DES and AES data
encryption algorithms in addition to SHA-1 and MD5 authentication algorithms, which
are typically used in applications such as VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). Using the
NPE for dedicated hardware acceleration enables the processing of cryptography and
authentication algorithms to be offloaded from the Intel XScale core. The Intel XScale
core API calls allow the cryptography and authentication elements to be used by any
interface within the Intel IXP425 network processor. This provides maximum flexibility
for all interfaces, especially when dealing with security issues over wireless. The high-
performance architecture of the Intel IXP425 network processor can support bulk
encryption/decryption rates of up to 70 Mbps for DES, 3DES and AES algorithms.
The processor requires two power supply rails. The core uses a 1.3V supply, and the
I/O interfaces run at 3.3V, both generated on-board from the main +5V power input,
using switching DC/DC converters. For details about its operation, see Power and
power management , page 37 .
The IXP425 processor is a low power device and does not require a heat sink for
ambient temperatures up to 70 ° C (85 ° C for the industrial variant).