All for one and one for all - the three musketeers of network processing
Switching ASIC vs CPU vs FPGA At A6Labs we’ve adopted the philosophy of using the best technology for the task rather than making the task fit the technology we already use. There are plenty of counter arguments to having multiple technologies in a product but we believe that to work at the forefront of what is possible we must use the best solution for the problem. Athos Programmable Switching Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Lightning fast, fairly quick to catch on, specialising in the elite art of packet processing the ASIC is a microchip that can be programmed to perform all kinds of manipulations on packet data (see day in the life of a packet). It can alter the contents of a packet, adding, removing and translating portions before sending the packet on its way, steering it towards its next destination. It speaks the language of P4, a programming language developed specifically for network processing. Programmable switch chips are a comparatively recent deve