Following the recent delivery of the UEP2025 platform to an OEM customer, let’s take a closer look at Ethernity’s most recent network appliance: its features, capabilities, and which applications would most benefit by using UEP2025.
As part of our line of network appliances, UEP2025 combines an FPGA SoC with our ENET Flow Processor FPGA code and a software stack for Layer 2 switching functionality. Together this creates an appliance that is competitively priced compared with ASIC-based telco switches, while also including the programmability to address the ever-changing demands of evolving telecom markets.
UEP2025 Features
UEP2025 is a Carrier Ethernet switch device with advanced hierarchical QoS, CFM/OAM, and complete Layer 2 functionality. Optionally, UEP2025 can include Sync-E and Power-over-Ethernet capabilities as well. Various port configurations are available, all including 25GbE SFP+, 10GbE RJ45, and 10GbE SFP ports.
Moreover, the UEP2025 comes with Ethernity’s patented link bonding, which offers the ability to load balance a single flow’s traffic over multiple ports, with support for reordering to compensate for differentiated delay. This enables connecting multiple point-to-point wireless radio devices, with an option to include other transport interface types.
By incorporating this bonding technology into a flexible switch device, Ethernity ensures optimum performance and improves the transmitted throughput by dynamically distributing data along multiple wireless links of different speeds and technologies. This allows operators to increase the maximum transmission distance and overcome interruptions or slow wireless transmission due to inclement weather.
Ethernity’s bonding technology is also vendor agnostic, which means it is capable of working with any vendor’s radios. This flexibility means that features can be chosen to fit the particular application requirements without being tied to a given vendor and its specific feature set. Additionally, vendor-agnostic platforms lead to lower overall costs, since there is natural competition among vendors.
Primary Applications
The fundamental versatility of the UEP2025 family of programmable network appliances makes it suitable for a wide variety of telco/cloud network edge applications. That said, it is particularly targeted for fronthaul and backhaul network edge infrastructure solutions and enterprise campus connectivity. Furthermore, it is designed for 5G networks as a wireless backhaul indoor/outdoor unit with integrated link bonding.
A base model of the UEP2025 is also available, primarily targeted toward Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs). Most WISPs are small businesses that own or lease a few towers to provide broadband access and that invest their startup money primarily in supporting a backhaul network. Ethernity’s bonding technology allows these WISPs the flexibility to connect to any radio unit, from any vendor, via any frequency. This introduces a previously unexpected measure of cost-savings into the WISP deployment.
How UEP2025 Stands Out
The device utilizes a single FPGA SoC to run the switch data path, IPSec, MACSec, and the link bonding architecture. By combining this control capability with the 10G and 25G ports, UEP2025 devices are perfectly suited to serve as network appliances for aggregation and demarcation of the WAN from LAN networks.
The beauty of the UEP2025 family is that it is customizable toward a specific purpose within the network. Both the hardware configuration and the FPGA can be customized to meet the demand for various networking functions, different transmission types, and security requirements (as all ports are connected through the FPGA), while achieving maximum performance in a compact, affordable device.
One potential customer recently referred to the UEP2025 as a “Magic Box” because it is such a versatile product that can be used for so many possible applications, and because of the bonding technology that enables dynamic load balancing without data loss. Throw in its complete interoperability with any vendor, and the UEP2025 is the ultimate tool for today’s disaggregated network.
