Napatech A/S announced the expansion of their IPU product line to include 400 GbE solutions. The new offerings are based on an extension of their collaboration agreement with Altera, an Intel company, to expand the Napatech portfolio of SmartNICs and IPUs based on the laatest generation of technology from Intel and Altera. In 2023, Napatech developed the F2070X product line of production-grade hardware with turnkey software that delivers a 200 Gbps SmartNIC or IPU for a variety of top applications, services, and use cases.

The products are based on Altera's IPU Platform F2000X-PL, anchored by the successful joint effort that delivered F2070X solutions optimized for leading data center use cases that include network, storage, and security offload and acceleration. Strong customer demand and early design-win success have resulted in initial orders for the F2070X, speaking to the value of Napatech's turnkey solutions. The next stage of the collaboration is a logical continuation, scaling the platform by 2X in throughput and the option for the 400 Gbps IPU, defined by Altera's Hot Springs Canyon architecture.

It is packed with the latest technology from Intel and Altera, including the powerful Intel Xeon D processor and Agilex 7 I-Series FPGA. The products also feature an innovative, disaggregated design that unlocks new network architectures, applications, and services. It allows deployment as a SmartNIC that can be expanded to IPU configurations with an optional processor.

The disaggregation also provides flexible combinations of FPGA and processor resources that deliver customers the optimal mix of functionality, performance, size, cost, and power while supported in standard, high- volume servers from leading OEMs. The new SmartNIC and IPU solutions, based on the Hot Springs Canyon architecture, are designed for the highest volume and growth segments for programmable NICs. These include modern cloud and edge computing applications and services, AI infrastructure, disaggregated storage, hybrid multi-cloud enterprise business applications such as data analytics and cybersecurity, and other high-volume, distributed use cases. Combined, these segments are fueling the growth of the programmable NIC market that is forecasted to exceed USD 5 billion by 2027, according to leading industry research analyst firm Omdia.

Altera and Napatech collaborated on the detailed specifications of the Hot Springs Canyon architecture and initial product designs in partnership with a tier-1, global server OEM that continues to lead in enterprise and cloud data centers. Consequently, this next phase of the partnership again includes significant contributions by all parties reflecting the shared commitment to bringing this differentiated solution to the market. Complete, customer-ready IPU solutions will be available from Napatech, uniquely featuring turn-key software packages that are production-grade, fully warranted, and supported, with the same feature-rich and high-velocity software and roadmap available on the F2070X.

Early customer access and documentation for the 400GbE solution will begin in the second half of 2024. Intel, the Intel logo, Altera, the Altera logo, and other marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.