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 The Intel®
IXA University team routinely gathers professors, students and Intel
specialists once a year to review the work done by the program
schools as well review the latest news from Intel. This year
we held our conference in Hudson Massachusetts. We brought in
John Beck and Matt Adiletta to deliver keynote speeches. John and
Matt are co-managers of the Communications Infrastructure
Architecture and Planning (CIAP) organization. Below is a
brief overview of the Conference. We have also attached links to the
University presentations made.
Opening Remarks: Bapi Vinnakota - CIAP Architect, Intel
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This year we had an
exciting agenda. Bapi Vinnakota started off the day providing an overview of the two day
conference
and opening remarks. During the introductions,
participants described their areas of research. Participants
hailed from Canada, Switzerland, The Netherlands, China, Japan, Malaysia, and the United States. |
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Keynote Speaker: John Beck - CIAP Planning Director, Intel
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John
gave a keynote presentation that covered a brief program
history, the convergence of compute and communications, and
opportunities for the University Program in 2006. Participants were happy to know
that Intel will continue supporting this program and value
the work of the universities.
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Keynote
Speaker: Matt Adiletta- Intel Fellow, IXA Chief Software Architect,
Intel
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For the second year
in a row we were treated to a keynote presentation by Matt
Adiletta. Matt gave a
compelling and interesting talk highlighting the future
direction of Intel’s network processors. His talks are
interactive and audience participation is encouraged.
Like last year, Matt's presentation received high review scores
from the conference attendees. |
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Snapshot of IXP University Research: Bapi Vinnakota, CIAP Architect,
Intel
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Bapi
worked closely with Ada Gavrilovska of Georgia Tech in
putting together this presentation. It provided an overview
of the types of research that are taking place at the
Universities. The presentation concluded with an interactive
discussion on increasing collaboration between universities. |
IXP-C: Auto partitioning Compiler: Manohar R. Castelino, IPD
Software Architect, Intel
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Manohar provided an
informative introduction to the Auto Partitioning C Compiler for
the IXP2xxx line of network processors. The presentation
provided an overview of the compiler, benchmark comparisons,
language extensions, and compiler optimizations. The audience
was excited about IXP-C and very anxious to begin using the
compiler. |
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IXP2350 Hardware Architecture Technical Talk: Vedvyas
Shanbhogue, ISO Architect, Intel
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Vedvyas introduced the
IXP2350 platform to the audience. The IXP2350 combines
the best of the the IXP425 and the IXP2400. The presentation
included feature highlights, an architectural overview,
microengine fundamentals, and description of a few IXP2350
applications.
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Round
Table Discussion: Curriculum Development Programs: Prof. Peter
Steenkiste, Carnegie Mellon University
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Professor Steenkiste
chaired the round table discussion that included Patrick Crowley
of Washington University, Ada Gavrilovska of Georgia Tech, and
Tilman Wolf of University of Massachusetts -Amherst. Each
professor presented an overview of their experience with
teaching IXP based material. The presentation concluded with
panel answering questions from the audience. |
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Network Intrusion Prevention on the Network Card: Prof. Herbert Bos,
Vrije Universiteit
.
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Professor Bos provided an overview of their CardGuard
research. CardGuard is software based intrusion
protection implemented on the NIC. The presentation included an
introduction to CardGuard, description of architecture, the
implementation, and preliminary results.
Herbert's presentation is available
here. |
Protocol Offloading Using An IXP2400 Network Processor: Prof. Yan
Luo, University of Massachusetts Lowell
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Professor Yan presented the research he participated in as
graduate student while attending the University of California
Riverside. He is now a faculty member of University of
Massachusetts Lowell. They have been working with Protocol
Offloading using the IXP2400 Network Processor. The presentation
included motivation, design goals and challenges, their
implementation, performance evaluation, and a taste of ongoing
research and teaching.
Yan's
presentation is available
here. |
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Implementing the Embedded CD++ Modeling Tool on the IXA Platform:
Wei Ding, Carleton University
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Wei
provided an overview of implementing Embedded CD++ on the
IXA architecture. Wei is a student supervised by
Professor Gabriel A. Wainer working on this research. The
presentation included the problem description, description
of the CD++ tool and their experience porting
the tool to IXP2400 architecture.
Wei's presentation is available
here. |
IXA
SDK Update – What’s New, What’s Coming: Ihab Bishara, IXA Software
Product Manager, Intel
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Ihab presented a
technical review of the IXA Software Development Kit for the
IXP2xxx family of network processors. Included in the
discussion: benefits of the SDK, SDK components, roadmap, and
the new features of the IXA SDK 4.3 GA release. |
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A General Framework for Measuring Performance of NP-Based Web
Switches: Prof. Jie Wang, University of Massachusetts Lowell
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Professor Wang presented their research
on measuring performance of NP-Based web switches. Jie covered the
performance model, a performance analysis of a web switch,
and their conclusions.
Jie's presentation is available
here. |
Efficient Data Manipulation Services on Server Platforms: Ada
Gavrilovska Research Scientist/Instructor, Georgia Tech
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.
Professor Gavrilovska gave an informative presentation on
efficient data manipulation services on server platforms.
They are working with Delta Airlines, Worldspan, and Cisco
in this area. Their research involves: complex
transformations of data for interoperability with external
partners; data integration from multiple sources;
distribution/specialization for multiple sinks; all with
performance guarantees. The presentation included
performance comparisons between the application implemented on a PC and the performance
of the application implemented on a number of the network processors.
Ada's presentation is available
here. |
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JackHMMer: Exploiting Coarse Grained Parallelism to Accelerate
Protein Motif Finding with a Network Processor:
Prof. Patrick Crowley, Washington University in St. Louis
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Professor Crowley presented an overview of a novel research
project underway at Washington University. They are using
network processors to accelerate protein motif searches.
The presentation included an introduction to HMMr, their
port of HMMr to the IXP, and performance comparisons of the
application implemented on the IXP vs. the application
implemented on the NP.
Patrick's presentation is available
here.
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Wireless Multimedia and the Digital Home: Dave Romano, IPD
Architect, Intel
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.
David provided an entertaining and informative presentation
on wireless multimedia and the digital home. He began with
an overview of the digital home, displaying some of the
products that are currently available in this space.
The remainder of his presentation dealt with challenges that
are faced and the standards that have been developed to meet
these challenges.
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IXP425 From Lab to Home: Tian Tian, IPD Technical Marketing
Engineer, Intel
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Tian introduced the IXP425
development platform to the audience. He began the
presentation with an overview of the hardware and software.
Next Tian described typical usages of the IXP425 in
applications such as
firewalls, VoIP, VPNs, and Wireless access points. He
followed this with some novel usages of the IXP425 in
appliances like a
DVD download & player and wireless TV reference design. Tian
concluded the presentation with discussion of using the
IXP425 as an education tool. |
In addition to the
presentations, we allotted a significant amount of time both days of
the conference for Q&A with IXP experts from Intel. Many
questions were asked relating to the program and the development tools. Special
thanks to the Intel engineers who were present to field questions
from the audience.
We
look forward to seeing you again next year!
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Worldwide
