Processing Models for the Next Generation Network

Abstract

The nature of services and content within the Next Generation Network (NGN) and the way in which they are delivered to end-users is changing. Content used to be text and some graphics. In the future it will not only be text and graphics but it will also be voice, audio and video. Entirely new classes of devices will proliferate in the home and enterprise that will have varying display and input capabilities. Getting services and content to these devices quickly, reliably and with low delay will place new strains on the storage, transport and processing capabilities of the network.

Existing processing models will prove to be insufficient for the NGN. The move from a text based world to a media rich world and the continually increasing gap between processing cycles and bandwidth will drive the demand for new processing models that are easily interconnected and designed to support transparent scalable processing of text and other signals.

A packet centric processor and logic-based architecture utilizing application processors, control processors, packet processors, signal processors, neural processors, reprogrammable logic and application specific logic can provide a continuum of optimized processing for the different phases of an application or service running at wire or fiber speed. A shift to this new architecture will have a profound impact on the capabilities of the NGN and the types of content processing, content filtering and other services that can be provided to users from servers, gateways, and service platforms.