SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 1 -- Cavium, Inc., a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor processors today announced its Project Thunder Initiative. Project Thunder will deliver a family of highly integrated, multi-core SoC processors that will incorporate highly optimized, full custom cores built from the ground up based on 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set architecture (ISA) into an innovative system-on-chip (SoC) that will redefine features, performance, power and cost metrics for the next generation cloud and datacenter markets. Cavium is collaborating with lead tier-1 vendors and ecosystem partners to deliver breakthrough solutions for this market. Project Thunder processor solutions for compute and storage applications along with the OCTEON® and NITROX® processor families will significantly expand Cavium's addressable market in the next generation cloud and datacenter. 

Enterprise, mobile, consumer applications and storage are rapidly moving to the cloud. In the enterprise, corporations are implementing a range of mission-critical applications and virtual desktops in the cloud. These applications, shared across multiple corporations, require multi-tenancy and scalable environments with strong security. In mobile and consumer networks, millions of users are simultaneously accessing services and applications and collaborating with unprecedented growth and scale. Furthermore these applications require real-time provisioning to support unpredictable peak loads. These trends are driving a dramatic change in the data-center architecture causing convergence of computing, networking, security and storage with virtualization. This requires data-centers to consolidate workloads, virtualize networks and implement application-optimized servers and storage with dynamic provisioning and real-time scalability in a dramatically lower power and cost envelope.

Project Thunder leverages significant amounts of in house IP and builds upon Cavium's proven track record of developing and delivering, 2 to 48-cores SoC processors with industry-leading performance, scalability and integration based on the MIPS® and ARM® architectures. Cavium has chosen to use MIPS or ARM architectures based upon the target end market, industry trends, installed software base, ecosystem and customer demand. Cavium is also leveraging its extensive expertise in developing multicore software solutions to provide highly optimized and scalable stacks, libraries and applications along with rich set of development and optimization tools by working with ecosystem partners, end customers and contributing directly to open source. Cavium's core competencies and differentiated IP in multi-core processor development have resulted in Cavium becoming the fastest growing provider of processors for embedded communications with #2 market share in the embedded multi-core market.

"The cloud and datacenter market is going through a discontinuity with rapidly changing requirements driving a convergence of computing, networking and security," said Syed Ali, President and CEO of Cavium. "Cavium's core competencies and IP are uniquely matched to deliver a compelling value proposition to the cloud and datacenter."

Project Thunder provides a scalable family of 64-bit ARMv8 processors incorporated into a highly differentiated SoC architecture optimized for cloud and datacenter applications. The family of SoCs will integrate high-performance compute, networking, security, storage along with targeted workload application acceleration and high-speed industry standard IOs. Project Thunder processors will provide up to 10x price, performance and power value proposition over alternative solutions for target applications. Cavium will announce the details of Project Thunder at a later date. For more information contacts us at: http://cavium.com/processor_Project_Thunder.html

About Cavium

Cavium is a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor processors. Cavium offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software compatible processors ranging in performance from 10 Mbps to over 100 Gbps that enable secure, intelligent functionality in enterprise, data-center, broadband/consumer and access & 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 offices are in San Jose, California with design team locations in California, Massachusetts, India and China. For more information, please visit: http://www.cavium.com

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Source: Cavium