AMCC Intros Network Processors

SAN DIEGO -- Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) (NASDAQ:AMCC - News) today announced the company's nP3700 device, the first in an advanced family of 5Gbps integrated network processor (NPU) and traffic manager(TM) solutions.

The nP3700 debuts AMCC's nP5(TM) technology, enabling developers to deliver extremely fine-grained control of subscriber traffic without impacting the ability to perform complex ATM and packet internetworking at media speeds. By uniting the flexibility of the industry's highest performance, fifth-generation network processing core with the most widely deployed and mature traffic management technology, the nP3700 will also significantly reduce form factor and cost for developers.

With the introduction of this product family, AMCC will fill a void in the market by delivering devices that incorporate high-speed memory with a wide variety of multiple interfaces. These devices will include not only two SPI-3 interfaces but also a SPI-4 interface, reducing power consumption and freeing up coveted board space for developers while allowing more integration in the design structure with richer configuration capabilities. In addition to delivering high-performance packet processing and fine-grained traffic management, several specialized co-processors perform classification, policing, and coherent database management for unparalleled line-rate performance. A key component of AMCC's recently announced MISSION(TM) solution, the nP3700 will be ideal for the multi-service applications MISSION targets, as well as other high-performance applications such as core and edge routers, DSLAM, OC-48 AAL5 SAR and L4 - L7 applications.

"AMCC continues to raise the bar for integrated designs and flexible solutions in this evolving NPU market," said Bob Wheeler, senior analyst at The Linley Group. "This latest addition to AMCC's network processor solution portfolio will respond to an essential need for multi-service capability, and it will do so with increased capabilities in critical areas such as processing performance and integration."

The nP3700 family and nPsoft(TM) Development Environment were designed from the ground up to reduce customers' software investment, and decrease customer time-to-market while increasing time-in-market. AMCC's simplest "run to completion" programming model dramatically simplifies software development and trouble-shooting, and software compatibility with AMCC's previous generation NPU + TM devices will allow software portability and seamless integration into existing infrastructures.

"AMCC's nP3700 builds upon the sound architecture utilized in our previous network processor generations," said Keith Morris, director of product strategy for AMCC. "Key components of the nP3700 family such as nP5 technology and multiple interface utilization are a direct result of our unified approach to incorporating specific feedback received from Tier one customers. Both for MISSION-related multi-service applications and additional high-performance applications, the nP3700 will offer an unprecedented value proposition to equipment vendors and their customers -- employing 'Universal Port Services at Dedicated Port Economics', and delivering on promises for reduced capital and operating expenditures."

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC)