The two semiconductor giants will go head-to-head as they apply their process technology prowess to redefine themselves as building-block suppliers for the next generation of Internet equipment. Both hope to ride the coattails of a trend among systems makers to build fewer costly and time-consuming ASICs for each new product and rely more on standard programmable processors.

Responding to the trend, IBM, itself a major ASIC producer, "is looking at migrating the industry from an ASIC model to a network processing model" via new silicon and programming tools, said Steve Longoria, the microelectronics division's marketing manager for wired communications.

And as Intel moves beyond a PC-centric focus, its "mission is changing and broadening," said Mark Christensen, vice president of Intel's Network Communications Group. "The entire infrastructure of the Internet will upgrade over time, and we want that to be with Intel technology."

At its developer forum in Palm Springs, Calif., this week, Intel will reveal some of its plans for a full suite of communications coprocessors. The chips, detailed privately in analyst meetings last week, include Layer 3 header processors that use technologies from new Intel subsidiary Level One Communications Inc. (Sacramento, Calif.) as well as a midrange processor that runs at 266 MHz and uses several RISC processors in parallel. The net chip will use the StrongARM, plucked from Digital Equipment Corp., as an executive controller for administrative tasks and scheduling among a series of smaller engines that will handle packet parsing and serial line aggregation.

At the high end of Intel's offerings will be 64- and 128-bit wire-speed packet-forwarding engines from Softcom Microsystems Inc. (Fremont, Calif.), which Intel acquired in July. And Intel is expected to repeat a statement that drew gasps from some of the analysts briefed last week, announcing that it will tap its x86 and Pentium cores as primary processors in switches and routers. The x86 CPUs would be central controllers; the Level One, StrongARM and Softcom engines would be coprocessors.

Missing from Intel's end-to-end strategy, at least for now, is a switch fabric.

Analysts had mixed reactions to the Intel briefing last week. Some saw a grand strategy spanning business, edge and carrier networks. Others said the company still lacks a credible, coherent vision.

"Don't forget that Intel is the same company that abandoned the i960 because it needed the fab space to make more desktop microprocessors. They need to overcome some understandable skepticism among potential customers," said principal analyst Frank Dzubeck at Communications Network Architects Inc. (Washington). "Right now, they have nothing other than some separate elements. They are not paying attention to the materials-science side of things. "IBM says, 'We have a rich suite of copper, silicon-on-insulator, and silicon germanium we can apply to this problem.' Intel does not have any of that."

For its part, IBM this week will unveil a home-grown network processor for 4-Gbit networks and a lower-end processor for networked resources for midrange edge switching. Also on tap is a 28.4-Gbit/second packet-routing switch, the latest generation of the Prisma physical-layer switching fabric family, that could link to network processors from multiple vendors.

While not following Intel down the acquisition trail, IBM has picked up two partners. Net processor startup C-Port Corp. (North Andover, Mass.) will work with Big Blue to work on open application programming interfaces that would ease application development at several layers in the network. Meanwhile, IBM will act as a foundry for PMC-Sierra Inc. (Burnaby, B.C.), which will tap Big Blue's quarter-micron CMOS to make the 2.5- and 10-Gbit/s network switching chip set that PMC acquired last week as part of its purchase of Abrizio (Mountain View, Calif.), a startup formed by veterans of Stanford University's Tiny-Tera project.

Open road

IBM appears to be carving an open path. Along with C-Port, it is a member of the Common Switch Interface (CSIX) consortium, which is defining a published interface between Layer 1 switching fabrics and Layer 2 and 3 bridging and routing processors. The practical benefit of CSIX for IBM, according to Longoria, is that C-Port's C-5 processor could be linked directly to IBM's 28.4-Gbit/s packet-routing switch. IBM's network processor and its processor for networked resources, conversely, could be linked to alternative switching fabrics from CSIX-compliant vendors, such as the TeraChannel fabrics from Power X Ltd. (Manchester, England).

In addition, IBM is opening communications R&D centers in Yorktown Heights, N.Y; Zurich; and Haifa, Israel, to work with customers on advanced switching systems and new routing and switching protocols. Topping IBM's announcements is the high-end network processor, code-named Rainier. It is based on 10 PicoProcessor RISC cores, operating in parallel on packet parsing and other tasks. Built from scratch at IBM, the PicoProcessor is a RISC engine optimized for data networking. The 10 processors, with an aggregate processing power of 1,333 Mips, are fed by a centralized embedded PowerPC.

PicoProcessors are programmable, meaning Rainier's ports can be software-configured, for example, for asynchronous transfer mode or Ethernet. Functions such as ATM segmentation and reassembly are programmable on Rainier, whereas they are fixed on the midrange chip.

The processor features dedicated Ethernet medium access controllers-40 10/100 ports or four Gigabit Ethernet ports-but its flexibility is key.

"There's always been the belief that you can't run a programmable engine at line speed," Longoria said. "What's made it possible is the development of some processors that are optimized for handling communications." The processor for network resources, is a mixture of programmable and hardwired blocks, including a PowerPC 133-MHz 401 core. The part is aimed at OC-12 (622-Mbit/s) speeds. It includes dedicated blocks for ATM segmentation and reassembly, Sonet framing and PCI interfaces.

While IBM's network processors are built on standard CMOS, the high-end Rainier will shift to copper interconnects soon, Longoria said. IBM sees CMOS "running out of gas" beyond OC-48 (2.5-Gbit/s) speeds, which could open the door to processors built of silicon germanium, he said.

It's that sort of technology prowess that is attracting partnerships. C-Port president Laurence Walker said he expects that the "co-opetition" between his company and IBM will involve both tooth-and-nail direct competition and reference sales between the two companies when appropriate. And the open interfaces between switches and processors will allow C-Port to work with Power X and IBM today and perhaps with Abrizio switches in the future.

Such switching fabrics are becoming increasingly crucial pieces of the next-generation Internet puzzle. PMC's $400 million acquisition of Abrizio last week "confirms the significance of the interconnect fabric to the networking industry," said Phil Mercer, chief executive of Power X.

The Abrizio switch, developed at Stanford University with investments from Texas Instruments Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc., gives PMC a higher-end Layer 1 switching solution than the 155-Mbit ATM-oriented switches it picked up through its acquisition of Integrated Telecom Technologies Inc. two years ago.