Intel has unveiled a new roadmap for its edge infrastructure and network processors that runs through 2026.
At its Intel Vision 2022 event in Dallas, TechRadar Pro and other outlets learned that the company plans to ship three new generations of infrastructure processing units (IPUs) over the next four years.
By the end of 2022, we can expect the previously announced Oak Springs Canyon FPGAs and Mount Evans ASICs to ship. This second generation range will launch with a 200GbE network.
Going further, Intel plans to continue with 400rd generation IPUs (Hot Springs Canyon and Mount Morgan) with 800 GbE, and a XNUMXth generation with XNUMX GbE, in line with the increasing demand for bandwidth.
Intel PIU
Speaking to the press ahead of Vision, Patty Kummrow, CVP and GM of Network and Edge, outlined the opportunities opened up by PIUs, the first of which was launched by Intel last summer.
Basically, the idea is to help cloud and network providers free up CPU performance by offloading features like storage and network virtualization, which also provides various security benefits. Essentially, PIUs are almost identical to data processing units (DPUs).
“UIPs fundamentally change the way the data center can be designed; they are a great catalyst for the changes we are seeing and the evolution of the data center,” said Kummrow.
"And we're also seeing strong demand and applicability for these devices beyond hyperscale data centers, to the edge."
With future generations of UIP, Intel hopes to help customers further optimize their data center resources and, by extension, increase their profitability.
The IPU roadmap announcement follows the launch earlier this year of new Intel Xeon D processors for network and edge use cases.
The chips are built on the company's Ice Lake platform and feature built-in AI and crypto acceleration, built-in Ethernet, and several other features that address common and edge networking workloads.
At the time, Intel told TechRadar Pro that the new chips offered "breakthrough performance" in use cases such as security devices, enterprise routers and switches, cloud storage, wireless networking and more, wired, AI inference. and edge servers.