12 CHAPTER 1 Introduction and Motivation processors and the functional units of the NP is described in a separate chapter. This part concludes with a comprehensive example of writing a program and using the network processor. Chapter 10 describes the general architecture of EZchip's NP-1 network processor, its heterogeneous pipeline of parallel processors, the TOPs, the inter- faces, and the data flow of a packet inside the NP-1. Chapter 11 explains how to program the NP, how to use the development envi- ronment of the network processor (including compiling, debugging, simulating, etc.), and how to run the programs (i.e., initializing the NP, downloading it, and working with the attached external host processor). It covers pipelining program- ming in depth, as well as the NP-1 Assembly. Chapters 12, 14, and 15 outline the TOPparse, TOPresolve, and TOPmodify architectures, respectively, as well as their internal blocks and their instruction sets. Simple examples are also given to demonstrate the use of these TOP engines. Chapter 13 describes TOPsearch I very briefly, and explains how to carry out various simple lookup operations with the TOPsearch engine by providing search keys, and getting results that match these keys. Chapter 16 describes how to use the EZchip development system based on the example given in previous chapters; that is, how we load it, compile it, and debug it. In addition, the chapter provides a quick and basic review of how to define frames (which the simulator will use) and how to build the search database (structures that also can be used during the debugging phase). Chapter 17 concludes the third part of the book by demonstrating how to use the EZchip NP, with a high-speed network application, a multi-Gbps routing, and an "on the fly" screening filter for prescribed words that are to be identified and masked. This chapter shows how to design, write, run, debug, and simulate an application with the Microcode Development Environment (MDE). The EZmde demo program can be used to write a code, debug it, and simulate an NP with this code (with debugging features turned on). The EZmde can be down- loaded from http://www.cse.bgu.ac.il/npbook (access code: CSE37421), as well as the EZmde design manual. 1.6 SUMMARY Network processors became an essential component for network system vendors. This chapter outlined the ecosystem of NPs, the reasons for their importance, their growth, and their capabilities. This subject is very dynamic; the interested reader may use periodicals, books [86, 92, 134, 135, 278], and Internet sources for remaining updated in the area of NPs. Some excellent Internet sources for example are Light Reading [10] and the Linley Group [286].