Ethernity Networks plc (LON:ENET), a leading supplier of data processing offload solutions on programmable hardware for acceleration of telco/cloud networks, has announced that it has started receiving production orders for its ENET Flow Processor FPGA systems-on-chip from Tarana Wireless Inc. an American wireless broadband solution manufacturer. Ethernity FPGA SoCs provide complete IP networking functionality, including critical traffic management features, for Tarana’s Gigabit 1 (G1) product.
Following a contract between Tarana and Ethernity signed in 2017, Ethernity has worked closely with Tarana to support its development efforts toward bringing their innovative fixed wireless access product to mass adoption. Tarana successfully completed field trials in 2020 and is now fulfilling orders from service providers for large-scale commercial deployments of G1, requiring supply of 5,000 units of Ethernity’s ENET Flow Processor over the next 12 months. To that end, Ethernity has received initial orders for $400K to supply its FPGA SoCs, expected to be delivered by early Q3 2021, representing an acceleration of the previous expectation, as set out in the Company’s update on 2 December 2020. Further growth of this product line is expected in 2022.
Tarana has developed its proprietary radio access network technology from the ground up, including custom silicon for RF (radio frequency) and digital signal processing, specifically to address the significant shortcomings of prior attempts at fixed wireless using technology repurposed from other applications (i.e. indoor Wi-Fi and mobile cellular). Given its purpose-built design in RF signal processing, G1 can provide fiber-class service from installations on existing cellular tower assets in non-line-of-sight conditions – and in unlicensed spectrum – with significantly improved performance and network economics than 5G for fixed broadband.
Ethernity has provided Tarana its unique silicon-tuned software, which, thanks to the efficiency of the ENET Flow Processor design, fits into low-cost FPGAs. Working in concert with Tarana’s radio technology in its tower-installed base nodes, the ENET Flow Processor provides advanced networking functions, traffic control, and management for up to 512 homes per ENET SoC.
Rakesh Tiwari, Tarana’s VP of Product Management, said: “Our collaboration with the Ethernity team has certainly made a significant contribution to our end-to-end system design. Our ability to easily customize packet processing on the ENET platform to meet our application-specific needs has made it a superior choice over off-the-shelf ASIC-based switches.”
Ethernity Networks CEO David Levi said: “We are very pleased to see Tarana progressing with our solution through multiple field trials and now entering mass deployment of their product. Our contribution to their G1 product helps carry intact their extremely high performance in the RF domain over into the IP domain, which we are confident will help this innovative technology gain additional traction with operators the world over. We are looking forward to supporting Tarana in their rapid commercial ramp.”
