Orange Silicon Valley Utilizing IDT’s x86 Cluster and Interconnect Switches
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT) has announced that Orange Silicon Valley used IDT’s scalable x86 compute cluster and 20 Gbps RapidIO interconnect switches and bridges as the processing platform to execute high-performance analytics on real-world social media traffic during the FIFA World Cup finals. For its test project, Orange Silicon Valley, a subsidiary of telecommunications company Orange, developed the platform to test the viability of real-time analysis of consumer interests and sentiments during the highly viewed World Cup matches.
The analytics were deployed on IDT’s RapidIO-connected x86 cluster running on the data center compute and networking (DCCN) motherboards developed by Prodrive Technologies. IDT’s RapidIO switches offer 20 Gbps of bandwidth per link, 100 ns cut-through latency, robust fault tolerance and hot-swap support, built-in reliable transmission, and non-blocking switch performance–all of which are essential to running mission-critical analytics in a wireless network with co-located servers.
The project with Orange sought to conduct deep analysis of network traffic in real time, co-located at the edge of the network at the base station. To check the viability of the plan, engineers tested their analytics on ultra-low latency, energy-efficient, computationally dense systems using real social media traffic.
“Our mandate is to push the limits of existing technology and discover which potential breakthroughs in network deployment are feasible,” said Jérome Laudouar, Infrastructure Technologies and Engineering Director, Orange. “By using IDT’s RapidIO network, we were able to prove the viability of deploying embedded interconnect technology for massive, real-time data analysis—not just in wireless-server co-location, but also in other high-performance computing and data analytics applications.”
“IDT’s RapidIO interconnected processing cluster proved to be a compelling solution for Orange Silicon Valley’s ambitious data analysis project,” said Sean Fan, IDT’s vice president and general manager, Interface & Connectivity Division. “We will continue to deliver innovative interconnect technologies to address the growing challenges of data moving through wires and the air in this era of big data.”
Delivering 300 Gbps of aggregate interconnect bandwidth in each DCCN board and the ability to cluster up to four Intel I7 processors, the platform is ideal for achieving low latency coupled with high compute density and low-power targets of the application. With more than 50 million switch ports shipped to date, IDT’s RapidIO products are a proven solution that address the multi-processor, peer-to-peer processing needs required of high-performance analytics in wireless networks, supercomputing and data center applications. Energy-efficient system designs can take advantage of RapidIO’s 300 mW per 10 Gbps of data — the lowest power-to-performance ratio compared to other interconnects.
In addition, IDT’s RapidIO-to-PCIe bridge provides connectivity to the PCIe-based network interface controller’s functionality, while consuming only 2 Watts at 20 Gbps. This allows for high-density solutions within the DCCN platform using x86-based daughtercards. RapidIO-compliant systems can be scaled up to 64K processing and endpoint nodes with RapidIO 20 Gbps interconnection between DCCN motherboards. They can also be aggregated with 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfacing to many commercially available Ethernet top-of rack-switches.
