Unified Silicon Architecture Touted With Cisco Silicon One

Networking giant Cisco has launched what it is calling its ‘Internet for the Future’ strategy, that will essentially see it invest in its own silicon, optics and software practices going forward.

As part of this announcement, Cisco also introduced ‘Cisco Silicon One’, which it claims is the “first-ever single, unified silicon architecture that can serve anywhere in the network and be used in any form factor.”

Cisco says a single chip architecture will be the foundation for all its routers and switches equipment in the years ahead, and it will manage data better than existing processors.

Unified architecture

Cisco says its new ‘Internet for the Future’ strategy is designed to cater for building the new internet, and seeks “to push digital innovation beyond the performance, economic and power consumption limitations of current infrastructure.”

It believes this approach will define the Internet for decades to come, and claims that its Cisco Silicon One is the industry’s only networking silicon architecture of its kind.

Indeed, Cisco Silicon One will be capable of speeds of 25 Tbps, and the chip will be the foundation for Cisco’s routing portfolio going forward.

“It will be the industry’s first networking chip universally for service provider and web-scale markets – reducing costs of operations and reducing time-to-value for new services,” claimed the American networking giant.

And the new Cisco 8000 Series, which it says is the world’s most powerful carrier class routers, is built on this new silicon. It combines both Silicon One and new IOS XR7 operating system, which is “engineered to help service providers and web-scale companies reduce the costs of building and operating mass scale networks to run digital applications and services such as 5G, video and cloud.”

“Innovation requires focused investment, the right team and a culture that values imagination,” said Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco. “We are dedicated to transforming the industry to build a new internet for the 5G era.”

“Our latest solutions in silicon, optics and software represent the continued innovation we’re driving that helps our customers stay ahead of the curve and create new, ground-breaking experiences for their customers and end users for decades to come,” said Robbins.

Future internet

The new silicon architectures comes at a time when of huge expansion of the online world, with technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, 16K streaming, AI, 5G, 10G, quantum computing, adaptive and predictive cybersecurity, intelligent IOT all expected to make a big impact in people’s lives in the years ahead.

“These future generations of applications will drive complexity beyond the capabilities current internet infrastructure can viably support,” said Cisco.

Cisco said that in order to meet the demands for these new technologies, new internet infrastructure is needed and that can be delivered via a combination of Cisco’s new silicon architecture with its next-generation of optics.

Indeed, Cisco said that its focus and investment in the years ahead will concentrate on three key technology areas: silicon, optics and software.

“Pushing the boundaries of innovation to the next level – far beyond what we experience today – is critical for the future and we believe silicon, optics and software are the technology levers that will deliver this outcome,” said David Goeckeler, executive VP and GM of the networking and security business at Cisco.

“Cisco’s technology strategy is not about the next-generation of a single product area,” said Goeckeler. “We have spent the past several years investing in whole categories of independent technologies that we believe will converge in the future – and ultimately will allow us to solve the hardest problems on the verge of eroding the advancement of digital innovation. This strategy is delivering the most ambitious development project the company has ever achieved.”

Quiz: Think you know all about Internet of Things?