PPL for the Intel IXP23xx

Everything You Need for Many IXP23xx-based Applications!

Using IP Fabrics PPL for the Intel IXP23xx, you’ll be able to create, test, and deploy sophisticated NPU applications in a fraction of the time compared to conventional programming approaches. Develop proof-of-concepts and rapid prototypes in days or weeks instead of months, determine and optimize system-wide performance critical sections by gaining visibility far earlier in the development process, and deliver the final product far sooner and with fewer resources than other methods requiring you to develop very low-level, hardware-specific programs.

PPL for the Intel IXP23xx combines everything needed for many complex IXP23xx-based applications – without requiring you to write ANY hardware-specific microcode.  

What’s Included:

• PPL Compiler: Integrated with Eclipse-based user interface or scriptable using a simple CLI, the PPL Compiler runs on both Windows and Linux PC’s.
• PPL Virtual Machine: The complete base PPL runtime environment optimized for the IXP23xx, including features such as:
• Parallelizing PPL applications across up to 4 Microengines
• Optimizing/hiding costly memory accesses
• Abstracting hardware-specific details such as the thousands of registers, complex memory model, and hash/crypto units.
• Built-in support of the IXP23xx integrated physical interfaces and NPE’s
• Interfacing with external programs, such as user-written microcode or programs running on an adjunct or remote processor.
• Sophisticated built-in functionality, such as regular-expression content scans, associative memory lookups, rate monitoring, and connection tracking.
• Ethernet and SPI-3 receive and transmit interfaces
• Full Linux-based XScale Support: Includes Intel IXA Portability Framework compliant functions and utilities for:
• data plane loading
• data plane configuration
• data plane management
• Linux-based APIs & Libraries: Includes Linux user-mode interfaces for integration with control and management plane and software.
• Sample PPL programs and Linux-based XScale utilites
• Complete product specifications and supporting documentation

Application-Specific Add-Ons for PPL for the Intel IXP23xx

Since many NPU applications require application-specific functions, IP Fabrics has a suite of Add-Ons to complement and enhance the base PPL for Intel IXP23xx product. The Add-Ons are built into the Packet Processing Language, fully integrated into the PPL Virtual Machine, and require no further integration or testing by the user. Similar to the base product, the PPL Add-Ons are specific to a particular network processor model. These PPL Add-Ons include:

• PPL Basic Encryption/Decryption: Protocol-independent crypto support, including DES, 3DES, AES, AES192, AES256 ciphers and SHA1 and MD5 hashes. Ideal for SSL, TLS, user-supplied IPSEC, and customer protocols. Requires Intel IXP2350. Available Soon
• PPL PCI Express Delivery (PXD): A very high-speed mechanism to transfer packets across PCI/PCI-Express buses, ideal for interfacing with tightly-coupled processors (e.g., Pentium). Includes customizable Pentium companion software. Available Soon
• PPL SuperPacket Support: Support for aggregating multiple packets/fragments into larger ‘SuperPackets’, which are then treated as logical packets. Ideal for fragmentation and TCP segment re-assembly. Available Soon
• PPL Multi-Pattern Match Support: Highly-optimized algorithm for scanning a packet against a large database of patterns and signatures. Also includes the PPL Multi-Pattern Match Database Builder. Available Soon
• PPL Longest Prefix Match Support: Highly-optimized algorithm for LPM searches. Also includes the PPL Longest Prefix Match Database Builder.
• PPL ATM TM: Support to interface ATM traffic to PPL. Includes support for AAL1, AAL2, AAL5, IPoA, MPoA, TM 4.1, as well as Linux-based XScale Support and APIs. Available Soon

The Ability to Extend

In some NPU-based solutions, communications between PPL programs and applications outside of the scope of PPL will be required. PPL delivers this capability with a flexible interoperability model, allowing PPL applications to interface with external programs sharing the same NPU, or residing on external processors, such as other NPUs and control plane processors.

What it All Means           

IP Fabrics PPL for the Intel IXP23xx is absolutely the fastest and most robust way to create, test, and deploy gigabit-class IXP23xx applications – ALL WITHOUT WRITING ANY MACHINE-DEPENDENT MICROCODE. Within a few hours of installing the software, you’ll be creating and executing your first PPL application.