The IXP1200 is a

network processor A network processor is an integrated circuit which has a feature set specifically targeted at the Computer networking, networking application domain. Network processors are typically software programmable devices and would have generic characteri ...

fabricated by

Intel Corporation Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing ...

. The processor was originally a

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...

(DEC) project that had been in development since late 1996. When parts of DEC's Digital Semiconductor business was acquired by Intel in 1998 as part of an out-of-court settlement to end lawsuits each company had launched at each other for patent infringement, the processor was transferred to Intel. The DEC design team was retained and the design was completed by them under Intel. Halfhill, "Intel Network Processor Targets Routers". Samples of the processor were available for Intel partners since 1999, with general sample availability in late 1999. The processor was introduced in early 2000 at 166 and 200 MHz. A 232 MHz version was introduced later. The processor was later succeeded by the IXP2000, an

XScale XScale is a microarchitecture for central processing units initially designed by Intel implementing the ARM architecture (version 5) instruction set. XScale comprises several distinct families: IXP, IXC, IOP, PXA and CE (see more below), with some ...

-based family developed entirely by Intel. The processor was intended to replace the general-purpose embedded microprocessors and specialized

application-specific integrated circuit An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficienc ...

(ASIC) combinations used in network routers. The IXP1200 was designed for mid-range and high-end routers. For high-end models, the processor could be combined with others to increase the capability and performance of the router. The IXP1200 integrates a StrongARM SA-1100-derived core and six ''microengines'', which were RISC microprocessors with an instruction set optimized for network packet workloads. The StrongARM core performed non-

real-time Real-time, realtime, or real time may refer to: Computing * Real-time computing, hardware and software systems subject to a specified time constraint * Real-time clock, a computer clock that keeps track of the current time * Real-time Control Syst ...

functions while the ''microengines'' manipulated

network packet In telecommunications and computer networking, a network packet is a formatted unit of Data (computing), data carried by a packet-switched network. A packet consists of control information and user data; the latter is also known as the ''Payload ...

s. The processor also integrates

static random access memory Static random-access memory (static RAM or SRAM) is a type of random-access memory (RAM) that uses latching circuitry (flip-flop) to store each bit. SRAM is volatile memory; data is lost when power is removed. The ''static'' qualifier differ ...

(SRAM) and

synchronous dynamic random access memory Synchronous dynamic random-access memory (synchronous dynamic RAM or SDRAM) is any DRAM where the operation of its external pin interface is coordinated by an externally supplied clock signal. DRAM integrated circuits (ICs) produced from the ...

(SDRAM) controllers, a

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interface and an IX bus interface. The IXP1200 contains 6.5 million transistors and measures 126 mm². It was fabricated in a 0.28 μm,

complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss ", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...

(CMOS) process with three levels of interconnect. It was packaged in a 432-ball enhanced

ball grid array A ball grid array (BGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging (a chip carrier) used for integrated circuits. BGA packages are used to permanently mount devices such as microprocessors. A BGA can provide more interconnection pins than can be pu ...

(EBGA). The IXP1200 was fabricated at DEC's former

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plant.

Notes

References

* Halfhill, Tom R. (13 September 1999). "Intel Network Processor Targets Routers". ''

Microprocessor Report ''Microprocessor Report'' is a newsletter covering the microprocessor industry. The publication is accessible only to paying subscribers. To avoid bias, it does not take advertisements. The publication provides extensive analysis of new high-perf ...

''. * Matsumoto, Craig (25 August 2000)
"Intel makes IXP its net processor cornerstone"
''

EE Times ''EE Times'' (''Electronic Engineering Times'') is an electronics industry magazine published in the United States since 1972. EE Times is currently owned by AspenCore, a division of Arrow Electronics since August 2016. Ownership and status '' ...

''. * Article has diagram of the Intel IXP1200 Architecture. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ixp1200 DEC hardware Intel products ARM processors