SUNNYVALE, Calif.-- Fast-Chip, Incorporated, a fabless semiconductor company dedicated to high-performance communications ICs, today announced availability of PolicyEdge(TM), the first OC-192-speed network classification processor. The PolicyEdge offloads processor-intensive packet classification operations from network processors or ASICs, enabling premium billable services to be supported at wire-speed. Products benefiting from the PolicyEdge include MPLS label edge/switch routers, multi-service provisioning platforms, fast-firewalls, and VPNs. "Today, a broad set of networking applications can benefit from classification products which deliver a power-assist to network processors," said Bob Wheeler, senior analyst at The Linley Group, the leading analyst group targeting the Network Processing space. "Fast-Chip has the first mover advantage at the 10Gbps/OC-192 wire rate and should deliver the performance required to enable advanced services in the network edge, metro, and core." The PolicyEdge integrates industry-standard PL3 and SPI-4 interfaces, enabling it to sit in-line in the fast data path for optimal performance. On-chip Boundary Addressable Memory (BAM) provides single-cycle policy database checking, thereby eliminating the need for external CAM devices. Its sophisticated statistics collection enables advanced network services including usage-based billing, class of service partitioning, and denial of service policing. Fast-Chip Inc.