Last Thursday, Cisco (News - Alert), a company specializing in networking that is “transforming how people connect, communicate and collaborate,” unveiled a new advanced network processor: the nPower X1. This is Cisco’s next-generation integrated network processor uniquely designed to power the Internet of Everything (IoE), a trend that has already become part of our everyday lives where every object (people, processes, data and things) is interconnected. 

The X1 is Cisco’s first microchip to be launched from the nPower family, a new line of custom-developed silicon designed embedded processors. It is a flexible, scalable and programmable component found in computer devices that is specifically built for software-defined networking (SDN), a movement in the evolution towards programmable devices with fast-path acceleration and control using open APIs and advanced compute capabilities. Its construction is likely to make headway to even more advanced devices in this groundbreaking architecture.



This is an integrated processor with high network bandwidth and Terabit class solutions: it enables 400 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) throughput, new levels of service agility and simplified network operation. It is ideal for software defined networks to seamlessly process trillions of transactions per second while handling extremely high network event rates.

The nPower X1 is a minuscule and compact microprocessor with over four billion transistors on a single silicon chip meticulously designed to power the IoE and build solutions for particular applications, while delivering high-performance and supporting rapid bandwidth growth.

Key highpoints of the X1 silicon chipset include:

• Supports both system-level and network-specific functions of new and existing technologies.
• Offers greater flexibility to support new Internet technologies.
• Handles network-management functions and the routing of data.
• Improves scalability and flexibility in networking.
• Supports ever-increasing bandwidth requirements and throughput performance.
• Sustains next-generation multi-terabit routing.
• Increases packet processing and traffic management for input/output functions.
• Offers a programmable silicon processor able to handle the increasing number of transactions on networks, thanks to machine-to-machine traffic and volume of ultra-high-definition video applications.  

In sum, the Cisco nPower X1 is highly optimized to perform networking functions: it provides the right balance between programmability, scale, and performance. It is the one programmable network processor driven by the Internet that addresses both current and future challenges in network evolution to maximize bandwidth utilization and traffic flow.

For now, Cisco isn’t revealing any more details about the nPower X1; however, those of you that want to know more about it can participate in a live Webcast Sept. 24, 2013, at 8 a.m. Pacific Time/11 a.m. Eastern. To register, visit the company’s website. This 60-minute media presentation distributed over the Internet will introduce the system and explain how it is helping to make the IoE possible.