Artiza Networks has announced that it is developing a Smart Network Interface Card (SmartNIC) based on the Intel® FPGA SmartNIC N6000-PL Platform. Artiza has code-named the project “Griffin” and is targeting 5G virtual Radio Area Network (vRAN) and open Radio Area Network (O-RAN) communications applications with this new SmartNIC. Both vRAN and O-RAN encompass programmable solutions for 5G baseband processing.
Artiza is a member of the O-RAN alliance, which develops RAN interface technology specifications for the global telecom industry and believes that RAN virtualization and O-RAN technology will soon have a dramatic impact on the wireless base station equipment industry. That’s why the company is using the Intel FPGA SmartNIC N6000-PL Platform: to accelerate development of its own solution for this market.
The Griffin SmartNIC can be used to implement and accelerate many 5G functions, tasks, and workloads including:
- Forward error correction (FEC) coding
- Channel coding for L1 processing
- O-RAN LLS-C1, C2, C3 fronthaul protocols
- Virtual Cell Site Router (vCSR) for aggregation and transport of mobile communications traffic
- 5G User Plane Function (UPF) offload
The Intel FPGA SmartNIC N6000-PL Platform is a high-performance SmartNIC platform that combines an Intel® Agilex™ FPGA with an Intel® Ethernet Controller E810 to provide programmable, high-performance 2x100GE connectivity and hardware-programmable acceleration of many workloads including 4G/5G Virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN), Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), and transport of Professional Media over Managed IP Networks. The Intel® FPGA SmartNIC N6000-PL Platform is one of several platforms that Intel has developed and makes available to Intel partners, including Artiza Networks, to customize and accelerate development of their own applications and end products.
The Griffin SmartNIC’s programmable capabilities are enhanced by support for Intel® Open FPGA Stack (Intel® OFS). Intel OFS is an efficient, scalable, and source-accessible hardware and software infrastructure that allows board, software, and application developers like Artiza Networks to create and customize FPGA-based platforms in Intel® Xeon® processor-based servers. Intel OFS works with a growing array of hardware developed by Intel and selected third parties to ease workload development by providing a hardware reference infrastructure within the FPGA and software support consisting of standard application programming interfaces (APIs), interfaces, libraries, kernel drivers, and a Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) test framework.
Artiza Networks has spent more than three decades collaborating with the industry’s top cellular vendors and operators in developing testers for and then testing 3G, 4G, and 5G systems, RANs, and core network nodes. The company pioneered the first experimental trial of LTE technologies with NTT Docomo, a major Japanese cellular vendor and operator. Artiza will market the Griffin SmartNIC domestically in Japan and internationally to network operators, network equipment manufacturers, and the 5G enterprise market. The company expects that demand in all these markets will soon increase significantly as the 5G rollout continues to ramp up.
For more information about the Artiza Networks announcement, view the press release.
For more information about the Intel FPGA SmartNIC N6000-PL Platform, view the Intel FPGA SmartNIC N6000-PL Platform web page.
For more information about Intel OFS, view the Intel OFS web page.
Sabrina is Director of Marketing, FPGA Platforms and has over 20 years of experience serving a wide breadth of markets including data center, communications and industrial with a strong technical background in FPGAs. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University.