思科QuantumFlow处理器及其战略研究（1）–耀眼登场
2008年2月25日，思科发布业界新闻，发布其最新一代的，也是世界上最强大的，网络处理器QuantumFlow。其新闻稿的英文原文可参阅如下链接：思科新闻稿
SAN JOSE, Calif., February 25, 2008 - Cisco® today introduced the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor, the most advanced piece of networking silicon in the world and the industry’s first fully integrated and programmable networking chipset. More than half a decade in the making, the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor consists of 40 cores on a single chip and can perform up to 160 simultaneous processes, making it uniquely geared for today’s network environments and several generations beyond what is currently available in network processors.
The Cisco QuantumFlow Processor was designed by a team of more than 100 Cisco engineers and has led to more than 40 patent submissions. Many of the same engineers who developed the Cisco Silicon Packet Processor (SPP) for the Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1), which debuted in 2004, also worked on the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor. Continued advancements in technology, design and expertise enabled the team to increase the transistor density on the chip from a then networking-industry-leading 185 million on the Cisco SPP to more than 800 million on the Cisco QuantumFlow processor. Such density puts it in the tier of some of the most advanced processors developed by leading semiconductor companies.
下面是笔者尝试做的中文翻译：
思科公司今天发布其QuantumFlow处理器，工业界最强大的，第一个完全集成的，可编程的网络处理芯片。经过5年多的工程开发，Cisco的 QuantumFlow处理器在一个芯片内部含有40个CPU处理器的核，可以同时做160个数据处理。其超强的计算能力使得QuantumFlow处理 器成为当今网络计算的宠儿，并领先业界中其他的网络处理器数代之遥。
思科的QuantumFlow处理器的设计团队有100多个工程师组成。其设计研发过程中，团队共提交了40多个专利申请。QuantumFlow 的研发工程师许多来自思科2004年发布的多核网络处理器SPP（Silicon Packet Processor）设计团队。SPP被思科用在业界最高端的路由器CRS-1（CRS：CarrierRouting System）上。新技术的不断发展，持续的设计改进和优秀的技术能力使得QuantumFlow的研发团队在该芯片上的晶体管密度提高到8亿个晶体管， 而原来SPP芯片为1亿8千5百万个晶体管。QuantumFlow的高密度集成使得其成为半导体业界最复杂的芯片之一。
【笔者注：】
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–关于QuantumFlow：www.tektalk.cn/?s=quantumFlow
–关于CRS：www.tektalk.cn/?s=crs+cisco