EZchip Semiconductor announced that the latest OpenFlow spec, version 1.1, has been successfully implemented on the NP-4 network processor by several independent bodies. OpenFlow is a protocol that allows separation of the data and control planes in a switched network and seeks to increase network functionality while lowering the cost associated with operating networks. Leading hardware, software and service provider companies are members of the recently formed Open Networking Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes OpenFlow.

One of the implementations of OpenFlow 1.1 on the NP-4 was developed by the Telecom Research Team (LTIR Lab) at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM), while others are at corporations that prefer confidentiality. The LTIR Research Lab was founded by Professor Omar Cherkaoui who is leading a major project on the virtualization of network equipment called Netvirt.

"EZchip's NP-4 processor provides the flexibility and performance necessary for implementing OF1.1 as well as any future versions of the standard. NP-4's easy programming model enabled the UQAM Netvirt team to realize our OF1.1 full implementation with a high level of flexibility and a full 100 Gigabits. We are very pleased with the outcome," said Prof. Omar Cherkaoui, Universite du Quebec a Montreal.

While the previous version of OpenFlow, version 1.0, has seen multiple silicon-based implementations, the recently released version 1.1 strains silicon implementations by requiring a high degree of packet processing flexibility, in particular performing repetitive nested lookups in various tables. EZchip's network processors (NPUs) have long been recognized as providing a great degree of packet processing flexibility through software programming and without requiring any special hardware enhancements or revisions, EZchip's NPUs enable high performance implementation of the OpenFlow version 1.1 protocol, demonstrating the reduced time-to-market coupled with high-performance benefits provided by EZchip's NPUs.