Cavium and ARM To Demonstrate Comprehensive Cloud RAN Application on 48 Core 64-bit ARMv8-A ThunderX SoC Processor at Mobile World Congress 2015

Cavium showcases reference design for scalable C-RAN applications setting a new benchmark for performance, power and cost for network operators

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 26 2015 -- Cavium, Inc., (NASDAQ: CAVM), a leading provider of semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing for enterprise, data center, cloud, wired and wireless networking will demonstrate its family of ThunderX ARMv8-A based processors for servers with support for full virtualization of base station functions in a Cloud RAN (Radio Access Network) environment. This complete, intelligent and scalable cloud solution on the ThunderX ARMv8-A SoC (System on Chip) also includes a complete software implementation and reference designs. The demonstration will be showcased at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at Cavium's booth located in Hall 2, Stand 2F60 and in ARM's booth located in Hall 6, Stand 6C10.

This solution showcases Cavium's unified product portfolio for cellular infrastructure using Cavium's UniFiRAN end-to-end software solution to enable a seamless RAN (Radio Access Network) architecture in 3G and 4G networks. The UnifiRAN software architecture enables code-compatibility across a number of network elements, scaling from OCTEON Fusion® small cells through the OCTEON® range for macrocells and ThunderX for Cloud RAN.

Cavium's Cloud RAN implementation shown at MWC runs 3GPP LTE Release 9, with support for multiple radio heads across different frequencies. It is fully compliant to the proposed C-RAN architectures from NGMN and Small Cell Forum. The architecture implements a "split MAC" architecture. Crucially, unlike current C-RAN approaches that use CPRI and require dark fiber, the Cavium solution uses standard Ethernet with less stringent latency requirements which will make deployment significantly easier and less expensive.

The flagship product in Cavium's server range is the new ThunderX product family, with up to 48 ARMv8-A (64-bit) cores in a highly integrated SoC which delivers an unprecedented level of integration and industry leading ARMv8-A SoC performance. The ThunderX custom ARMv8-A cores and the highly integrated SoC with specialized accelerators for NFV and Cloud RAN deliver best in class performance, power and cost.

"ThunderX is a highly competitive solution for CRAN and NFV applications delivering high performance with extremely attractive cost and power metrics," commented Raj Singh, Vice President and General Manager of Cavium's Wireless product lines. "This Cloud-RAN implementation demonstrates the raw performance of the ThunderX SoC, as well as the development advantages of a unified architecture."

"Increasing demands on the network means we must develop a more sustainable solution for handling data and that necessitates an Intelligent Flexible Cloud (IFC) approach," said Ian Ferguson, vice president, segment marketing, ARM. "Cavium is providing a highly-integrated, heterogeneous processing platform to meet the latency, performance and efficiency requirements of spreading the cloud load from data center to the edges of the network. As the RAN evolves to support LTE-Advanced and 5G, flexible deployment options such as Cavium's ThunderX based C-RAN and NFV implementations will allow network operators to cost-effectively add new services and capabilities as needed."

"Cavium is establishing a unique position across the entire wireless infrastructure," added Sue Rudd, Director Service Provider Analysis at Strategy Analytics. "It has a leading position in 3G/4G macro base stations, EPC and LTE small cells through its extensive portfolio of OCTEON, OCTEON Fusion and ThunderX products. Now Cavium's MWC 2015 demonstration could not only ignite the C-RAN market with standard Ethernet fronthaul, but also accelerate true multi-frequency virtual RANs (vRANs)."

The ThunderX product family includes multiple workload optimized SKUs for next generation Data Center and Cloud Applications. Featuring high performance custom cores, single and dual socket configurations, high memory bandwidth, large memory capacity, integrated hardware accelerators, integrated feature rich high bandwidth network and storage IO, fully virtualized core and IO, and scalable high bandwidth, low latency Ethernet fabric, ThunderX enables best in class performance per dollar and performance per watt.

About Cavium
Cavium is a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing in enterprise, data center, cloud and wired and wireless service provider applications. Cavium offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software-compatible processors ranging in performance from 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps that enable secure, intelligent functionality in enterprise, data-center, broadband/consumer and access and service provider equipment. Cavium's processors are supported by ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tool support, reference designs and other services. Cavium's principal office is in San Jose, CA with design team locations in California, Massachusetts, India and China. For more information, please visit: http://www.cavium.com.