Described as a Software Defined Networking Data Processing Unit (SDN DPU), the chip will now move into the production phase with it expected in the hands of customers in Q2 2025.
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Built on TSMC’s five-nanometre process, Xsight’s E1 chips are designed to augment traditional network infrastructures by optimising performance across demanding workloads.
DPUs, like Xsight’s E1, are specially designed to offload and accelerate data movement and networking tasks by handling infrastructure-level functions to allow CPUs to focus on running business-critical applications.
The E1 chips offload and isolate infrastructure services from applications, improving performance and reducing latency, while enhancing efficiency and scalability in data centre and cloud environments.
Featuring dual 400G (800G) Ethernet network interfaces, the chips are capable of providing 800Gbps of total throughput and can support workloads running on CPUs, SSDs, and other devices.
The chips feature up to 64 Arm Neoverse N2 A cores and 32MB of internal RAM.
“Modern cloud workloads are redefining hyperscale data centre architectures,” said Yossi Meyouhas, CEO of Xsight Labs. “There is a critical need for processors that can offload and accelerate the massive compute demands of virtualisation, networking, storage and security.
“The E1 SoC is designed to meet these challenges head-on, allowing data centres to scale effectively and support the increasing bandwidth and security demands driven by AI workloads.”
The company behind the E1 chips is a newer player in the semiconductor space, founded in 2017.
Headquartered in Kiryat Gat, Israel, Xsight designs chips to support end-to-end connectivity for AI and hyperscale data centres. The company has since expanded beyond its native Israel, opening offices in Yerevan, Armenia, as well as in Boston, Raleigh, and San Jose in the US.
Big-name chip players have backed Xsight such as AMD which offers its own line of DPUs, including the new Pensando Salina and Pollara 400s, as well as the now AMD-owned Xilinx and Intel’s venture arm.
M12, Microsoft's venture fund also previously backed Xsight.
Its new E1 chips will be made available in a variety of form factors, including PCIe add-in cards and modular system backplane configurations.
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