Nectar CAB: a high-speed network processor

Author

Menzilcioglu, Onat ; Schlick, Steven

Author_Institution

Sch. of Comput. Sci., Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA, USA

fYear

1991

fDate

20-24 May 1991

Firstpage

508

Lastpage

515

Abstract

Nectar is a high-speed fiber-optic network developed as a network backplane to support distributed and heterogeneous computing. A distinguishing component of the Nectar network is a highly programmable network processor called the communication accelerator board (CAB). The Nectar CAB has a flexible architecture, where almost all interactions between the network and the host are programmable. This structure allows arbitrary protocols to be implemented, evaluated, and utilized. A description is presented of the design, implementation, and usage of the Nectar CAB, and performance implications of its hardware features are discussed

Keywords

computer networks; optical communication; optical fibres; performance evaluation; protocols; Nectar CAB; communication accelerator board; distributed computing; fiber-optic network; heterogeneous computing; high-speed network processor; highly programmable network processor; network backplane; performance implications; protocols; Application software; Computer architecture; Computer networks; Contracts; Engines; Hardware; High-speed networks; Optical fiber networks; Protocols; Switches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Distributed Computing Systems, 1991., 11th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Arlington, TX

Print_ISBN

0-8186-2144-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICDCS.1991.148718

Filename

148718