IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 15 – Solarflare, the leader in application-intelligent 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) networking software and hardware, today announced the launch of its Solarflare University Program for the Solarflare ApplicationOnLoad Engine (AOE). By providing access to the AOE hardware and development kits at a substantial educational discount, the Solarflare University Program provides FPGA-based products for classroom instruction in computer science and computer engineering helping to pioneer advances in Customized Compute. In addition, Solarflare is also announcing the Innovation Awards to encourage and reward research, innovation, and application development in the field of Customized Compute.

Open to faculty and students at university and educational institutions worldwide, the Program supports access to the full portfolio of Solarflare's ApplicationOnload Engine hardware and software, and a firmware development environment integrated with the Altera Quartus II software. With an industry proven Linux networking driver stack and OpenOnload application acceleration middleware, the AOE comes with a complete data path to the host allowing researchers to concentrate on computer science and application development.

"The Future Computing Technology Laboratory at Clemson University is dedicated to research in reconfigurable computing and providing our researchers and students with an advanced computing infrastructure," said Melissa Smith, assistant professor, Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Clemson University. "The Solarflare University Program and the Innovation Awards are examples of how private industry and universities can work together to better educate our students about new technologies and equip them with the latest tools and knowledge. We look forward to working with Solarflare and being a part of the University Program."

The Program works with and complements the Altera University Program and other industry organizations, including OpenFPGA. Members of the academic community participating in the Solarflare University Program receive:

• Access to the Solarflare AOE hardware and firmware development kit at a substantial educational discount
• Eligibility to enter the Customized Compute Innovation Awards with winners receiving recognition and cash prizes
• Connection to the Solarflare AOE Partner Network of application developers, and FPGA design services, tools, and IP providers
• Complimentary attendance at Solarflare's annual Partner Network Event
• University promotion through prominent display of University's logo on Program website
• Permission to display Solarflare and AOE logos on University's website

Customized Compute Innovation Awards

Solarflare is also launching its competition for the Customized Compute Innovation Awards which is open to members of the Solarflare University Program. Research areas include: electronic trading, intrusion detection and intrusion prevention (IDS and IPS), data loss prevention (DLP), signal processing, encryption/decryption, high performance computing (HPC), and video and digital media.

The Innovation Awards will award winners in each of the following:

• Best application or tool set (Open Source or FreeBSD) running on an AOE - ($10,000 cash prize)
• Best academic paper by a graduate, post graduate or university researcher published in journal or presented at a technical conference using AOE as a research platform - ($5,000 cash prize)
• Best poster presented at a technical conference by a graduate student using AOE as a research platform - ($2,500 cash prize)
• Best poster presented at a technical conference by an undergraduate student using AOE as a research platform - ($2,500 cash prize)

"Altera is dedicated to introducing students to the latest digital technologies," said Stephen Brown, director of university programs, Altera Corporation. "The Solarflare ApplicationOnLoad Engine, which includes Altera's latest high-performance Stratix® V FPGA and integrated support through our Quartus II development software, provides an ideal platform for university students to focus on application acceleration research and development."

"Working to educate universities and other future adopters of the benefits of using FPGA technology for high level and enterprise applications is an important goal for OpenFPGA," said Eric Stahlberg, president of OpenFPGA.org. "The Solarflare University Program embodies this goal and we are united with Solarflare in building the global community for low power, easily developed application acceleration."

For more information, visit http://www.solarflare.com/University-Program.

About Solarflare

Solarflare is a leading provider of application-intelligent networking I/O products that bridge the gap between applications and the network, deliver improved performance, increased scalability, and higher return on investment. The company's solutions are widely used in scale-out server environments such as high frequency trading, high performance computing, cloud, virtualization and big data. Solarflare's products are available from leading distributors and value-added resellers, as well as from Dell, IBM, and HP. Solarflare is headquartered in Irvine, California and operates an R&D facility in Cambridge, UK.

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Source: Solarflare