IBM Processor Passes Benchmark

EAST FISHKILL, N.Y. -- IBM today announced that its PowerNP network processor has achieved several significant performance milestones in recent independent industry benchmark studies. On the new LinleyBench 2002, the IBM PowerNP NP4GS3 is the first network processor to pass all required tests in the OC-48c configuration. In addition, the NP4GS3 is the first chip in the industry verified to operate at 10Gbps, while running the new IPv4 Forwarding industry standard benchmark established by the Network Processing Forum and certified by The Tolly Group. IBM's PowerNP network processors can enable customers to differentiate their products by providing enough performance headroom above line rates to run specialized applications, enabling them to adapt to new marketplaces. The performance headroom is achieved through the use of a highly optimized "run to completion" hardware architecture, which includes 16 picoprocessors and over 80 co-processors for handling specialized networking tasks. "Having objective, verifiable, and repeatable performance metrics in a marketplace where there are disparate approaches to solve performance issues is very important to our customers," said Armando Garcia, vice president of network processors, IBM Microelectronics. "IBM encourages the adoption of industry standards to measure performance, and we continue to demonstrate our commitment to openly benchmark our PowerNP network processors." IBM Corp.