Ethernity Networks said that it has developed a 200 Gbps 5G User Plane Functionality (UPF) forwarding offload solution based on its existing ACE-NIC100 FPGA SmartNIC, which enables operators to invest in stages as demand for 5G grows.
Given current subscription to 5G networks, most operators are presently content with less than 100 Gbps from their UPF software, which is the primary data processing between the Radio Access Network and the 5G core, said Ethernity Networks. Mobile network operators will be able to start with lower-cost servers and a lower-cost SmartNIC, and only scale as they gain users and add data-hungry applications to the network.
Ethernity therefore developed a flexible 400 Gbps fabric to cascade two of its ACE-NIC100 FPGA SmartNICs within a single server. This solution enables a pay-as-you-go model, in which an ACE-NIC100 provides 100 Gbps of routing and UPF forwarding offload from the server CPU to its onboard FPGA, and a second ACE-NIC100 can be easily integrated into the same low-cost server when sufficient demand exists for 200 Gbps.
Additionally, a second ACE-NIC enhances the UPF solution by acting as redundancy for both the NIC card and the network interfaces. Alternatively, the same design that is available on the lower-cost FPGA of the ACE-NIC100 can be hosted on a larger FPGA to support 200G router and UPF offload on a single FPGA SmartNIC.
David Levi, CEO at Ethernity Networks
Ethernity’s 200G UPF offload solution allows operators to invest conservatively at first and to scale to 200G as it becomes necessary, while freeing valuable space on the server CPU for additional functions like caching and deep packet inspection that are fully integrated with our solution.
