Implementation of 10Gb Ethernet Switch Hardware Platform with a Network Processor and a 10Gb EMAC

With the Internet explosion, the data rate that a networking device needs to support has increased dramatically. A common data rate requirement for routers and switches today is 10 Gigabits per second or higher. Also, the networking device requires the flexibility to perform packet forwarding and other complex functions such as firewall and quality of service. The Ethernet switch or router with a network processor can be a solution for these requirements. Also, the Gigabit Ethernet switch is already being deployed in large numbers in both corporate and public data networks, and has begun to move Ethernet from the region of the local area network out to encompass the metro aria network. Especially, the support of the 10 Gb physical port is necessary for the gigabit network devices. This paper presents an implementation of a 10 Gb Ethernet switch hardware platform using a IXP2850 which is the Intel's network processor and a Redhawk which is the Ample Communications' 10 Gb Ethernet MAC. We described the hardware architecture of the implemented 10 Gb Ethernet switch hardware platform which has two 10 Gb XFP (10 gigabit small form-factor pluggable) ports and the software implementation to boot and manage the system. Also, we implemented packet forwarding application which runs on the IXP2850. The architecture of the forwarding application is included in this paper.