This text identifies, examines, and illustrates fundamental concepts in computer system design that are common across operating systems, networks, database systems, distributed systems, programming languages, software engineering, security, fault tolerance, and architecture. Through carefully analyzed case studies from each of these disciplines, it demonstrates how to apply these concepts to tackle practical system design problems. To support the focus on design, the text identifies and explains abstractions that have proven successful in practice such as, remote procedure call, client/service organization, file systems, data integrity, consistency, and authenticated messages. Most computer systems are built using a handful of such abstractions. The text describes how these abstractions are implemented, demonstrates how they are used in different systems, and prepares the reader to apply them in future designs.

This unique book is offered in an online / offline split: Chapters 1-6 are included in the book available from Morgan Kaufmann in print or ebook form. Chapters 7-11 are available online under a Creative Commons license. Download them for free at http: //www.elsevierdirect.com/companion.jsp?ISBN=9780123749574
Features:
Concepts of computer system design guided by fundamental principles.Cross-cutting approach that identifies abstractions common to networking, operating systems, transaction systems, distributed systems, architecture, and software engineering.Case studies that make the abstractions real: naming (DNS and the URL); file systems (the UNIX file system); clients and services (NFS); virtualization (virtual machines); scheduling (disk arms); security (TLS).Numerous pseudocode fragments that provide concrete examples of abstract concepts.Extensive support. The authors and MIT OpenCourseWare provide on-line, free of charge, open educational resources, including additional chapters, course syllabi, board layouts and slides, lecture videos, and an archive of lecture schedules, class assignments, and design projects."

VHDL, the IEEE standard hardware description language for describing digital electronic systems, has recently been revised. This book has become a standard in the industry for learning the features of VHDL and using it to verify hardware designs. This third edition is the first comprehensive book on the market to address the new features of VHDL-2008.
* First comprehensive book on VHDL to incorporate all new features of VHDL-2008, the latest release of the VHDL standard...helps readers get up to speed quickly with new features of the new standard.
* Presents a structured guide to the modeling facilities offered by VHDL...shows how VHDL functions to help design digital systems.
* Includes extensive case studies and source code used to develop testbenches and case study examples..helps readers gain maximum facility with VHDL for design of digital systems.

This book offers a friendly presentation of the fundamental principles and practices of modern digital design. Unlike any other book in this field, transistor-level implementations are also included, which allow the readers to gain a solid understanding of a circuit's real potential and limitations, and to develop a realistic perspective on the practical design of actual integrated circuits. Coverage includes the largest selection available of digital circuits in all categories (combinational, sequential, logical, or arithmetic). Coverage also includes detailed digital design techniques, with a thorough discussion on state-machine modeling for the analysis and design of complex sequential systems. Key technologies used in modern circuits are also described, including Bipolar, MOS, ROM/RAM, and CPLD/FPGA chips, as well as codes and techniques used in data storage and transmission. Designs are illustrated by means of complete, realistic applications using VHDL, where the complete code, comments and simulation results are included.
* Comprehensive coverage of fundamental digital concepts and principles, as well as complete, realistic, industry-standard designs
* Many circuits shown with internal details at the transistor-level, as in real integrated circuits
* Actual technologies used in state-of-the-art digital circuits presented in conjunction with fundamental concepts and principles
* Six chapters dedicated to VHDL-based techniques, with all VHDL-based designs synthesized onto CPLD/FPGA chips

Introduced 160 years ago as an attempt to generalize complex numbers to higher dimensions, quaternions are now recognized as one of the most important concepts in modern computer graphics. They offer a powerful way to represent rotations and compared to rotation matrices they use less memory, compose faster, and are naturally suited for efficient interpolation of rotations. Despite this, many practitioners have avoided quaternions because of the mathematics used to understand them, hoping that some day a more intuitive description will be available.
The wait is over. Andrew Hanson's new book is a fresh perspective on quaternions. The first part of the book focuses on visualizing quaternions to provide the intuition necessary to use them, and includes many illustrative examples to motivate why they are important-a beautiful introduction to those wanting to explore quaternions unencumbered by their mathematical aspects. The second part covers the all-important advanced applications, including quaternion curves, surfaces, and volumes. Finally, for those wanting the full story of the mathematics behind quaternions, there is a gentle introduction to their four-dimensional nature and to Clifford Algebras, the all-encompassing framework for vectors and quaternions.
* Richly illustrated introduction for the developer, scientist, engineer, or student in computer graphics, visualization, or entertainment computing.
* Covers both non-mathematical and mathematical approaches to quaternions.
* Companion website with an assortment of quaternion utilities and sample code, data sets for the book's illustrations, and Mathematica notebooks with essential algebraic utilities.

Over the last ten years, the ARM architecture has become one of the most pervasive architectures in the world, with more than 2 billion ARM-based processors embedded in products ranging from cell phones to automotive braking systems. A world-wide community of ARM developers in semiconductor and product design companies includes software developers, system designers and hardware engineers. To date no book has directly addressed their need to develop the system and software for an ARM-based system. This text fills that gap.
This book provides a comprehensive description of the operation of the ARM core from a developer s perspective with a clear emphasis on software. It demonstrates not only how to write efficient ARM software in C and assembly but also how to optimize code. Example code throughout the book can be integrated into commercial products or used as templates to enable quick creation of productive software.
The book covers both the ARM and Thumb instruction sets, covers Intel's XScale Processors, outlines distinctions among the versions of the ARM architecture, demonstrates how to implement DSP algorithms, explains exception and interrupt handling, describes the cache technologies that surround the ARM cores as well as the most efficient memory management techniques. A final chapter looks forward to the future of the ARM architecture considering ARMv6, the latest change to the instruction set, which has been designed to improve the DSP and media processing capabilities of the architecture.
* No other book describes the ARM core from a system and software perspective.
* Author team combines extensive ARM software engineering experience with an in-depth knowledge of ARM developer needs.
* Practical, executable code is fully explained in the book and available on the publisher's Website.
* Includes a simple embedded operating system."

This fifth edition has been fully updated to cover the many advances made in CAGD and curve and surface theory since 1997, when the fourth edition appeared. Material has been restructured into theory and applications chapters. The theory material has been streamlined using the blossoming approach; the applications material includes least squares techniques in addition to the traditional interpolation methods. In all other respects, it is, thankfully, the same. This means you get the informal, friendly style and unique approach that has made "Curves and Surfaces for CAGD: A Practical Guide" a true classic.

The book's unified treatment of all significant methods of curve and surface design is heavily focused on the movement from theory to application. The author provides complete C implementations of many of the theories he discusses, ranging from the traditional to the leading-edge. You'll gain a deep, practical understanding of their advantages, disadvantages, and interrelationships, and in the process you'll see why this book has emerged as a proven resource for thousands of other professionals and academics.
* Provides authoritative and accessible information for those working with or developing computer-aided geometric design applications.
* Covers all significant CAGD curve and surface design techniques-from the traditional to the experimental.
* Includes a new chapter on recursive subdivision and triangular meshes.
* Presents topical programming exercises useful to professionals and students alike.
* Offers complete C implementations of many of the book's examples via a companion Web site.

Driven by demand from the entertainment industry for better and more realistic animation, technology continues to evolve and improve. The algorithms and techniques behind this technology are the foundation of this comprehensive book, which is written to teachyou the fundamentals of animation programming.

In this third edition, the most current techniques are covered along with the theory and high-level computation that have earned the book a reputation as the best technically-oriented animation resource. Key topics such as fluids, hair, and crowd animation have been expanded, and extensive new coverage of clothes and cloth has been added. New material on simulation provides a more diverse look at this important area and more example animations and chapter projects and exercises are included. Additionally, spline coverage has been expanded and new video compression and formats (e.g., iTunes) are covered.

* Includes companion site with contemporary animation examples drawn from research and entertainment, sample animations, and example code * Describes the key mathematical and algorithmic foundations of animation that provide you with a deep understanding and control of technique * Expanded and new coverage of key topics including: fluids and clouds, cloth and clothes, hair, and crowd animation *Explains the algorithms used for path following, hierarchical kinematic modelling, rigid body dynamics, flocking behaviour, particle systems, collision detection, and more"

*The classic reference, with over 25,000 copies in print, has been massively expanded and thoroughly updated to include state-of-the-art methods and 400+ all-new full color images At ILM, compositing is one of the most important tools we use. If you want to learn more, this excellent 2nd-edition is detailed with hundreds of secrets that will help make your comps seamless. For beginners or experts, Ron walks you through the processes of analysis and workflows - linear thinking which will help you become deft and successfully tackle any shot. - Dennis Muren ASC, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic Ron Brinkman's book is the definitive work on digital compositing and we have depended on this book as a critical part of our in-house training program at Imageworks since the 1999 Edition. We use this book as a daily textbook and reference for our lighters, compositors and anyone working with digital imagery. It is wonderful to see a new edition being released and it will certainly be required reading for all our digital artists here at Imageworks. - Sande Scoredos, Executive Director of Training & Artist Development, Sony Pictures Imageworks The Art and Science of Digital Compositing is the only complete overview of the technical and artistic nature of digital compositing. It covers a wide range of topics from basic image creation, representation and manipulation, to a look at the visual cues that are necessary to create a believable composite. Designed as an introduction to the field, as well as an authoritative technical reference, this book provides essential information for novices and professionals alike. *17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith. *Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more

All disc-based content for this title is now available on the Web.

*17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith.

*Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more

The field of multidimensional data structures is large and growing very quickly. Here, for the first time, is a thorough treatment of multidimensional point data, object and image-based representations, intervals and small rectangles, and high-dimensional datasets. The book includes a thorough introduction; a comprehensive survey to spatial and multidimensional data structures and algorithms; and implementation details for the most useful data structures. Along with the hundreds of worked exercises and hundreds of illustrations, the result is an excellent and valuable reference tool for professionals in many areas, including computer graphics, databases, geographic information systems (GIS), game programming, image processing, pattern recognition, solid modeling, similarity retrieval, and VLSI design. Award Winner in 2006 Best Book competition in Professional and Scholarly Publishing from the Association of American Publishers.

Morgan Kaufmann would like to congratulate Hanan Samet on receiving the UCGIS 2009 Research Award

Read the announcement here: http: //www.ucgis.org/summer2009/researchaward.htm
* First comprehensive work on multidimensional data structures available, a thorough and authoritative treatment.
* An algorithmic rather than mathematical approach, with a liberal use of examples that allows the readers to easily see the possible implementation and use.
* Each section includes a large number of exercises and solutions to self-test and confirm the reader's understanding and suggest future directions.
* Written by a well-known authority in the area of spatial data structures who has made many significant contributions to the field.
The author's website includes: Spatial Index Demos"

Virtual Machine technology applies the concept of virtualization to an entire machine, circumventing real machine compatibility constraints and hardware resource constraints to enable a higher degree of software portability and flexibility. Virtual machines are rapidly becoming an essential element in computer system design. They provide system security, flexibility, cross-platform compatibility, reliability, and resource efficiency. Designed to solve problems in combining and using major computer system components, virtual machine technologies play a key role in many disciplines, including operating systems, programming languages, and computer architecture. For example, at the process level, virtualizing technologies support dynamic program translation and platform-independent network computing. At the system level, they support multiple operating system environments on the same hardware platform and in servers.
Historically, individual virtual machine techniques have been developed within the specific disciplines that employ them (in some cases they aren t even referred to as virtual machines ), making it difficult to see their common underlying relationships in a cohesive way. In this text, Smith and Nair take a new approach by examining virtual machines as a unified discipline. Pulling together cross-cutting technologies allows virtual machine implementations to be studied and engineered in a well-structured manner. Topics include instruction set emulation, dynamic program translation and optimization, high level virtual machines (including Java and CLI), and system virtual machines for both single-user systems and servers.
*Examines virtual machine technologies across the disciplines that use them operating systems, programming languages and computer architecture defining a new and unified discipline.
*Reviewed by principle researchers at Microsoft, HP, and by other industry research groups.
*Written by two authors who combine several decades of expertise in computer system research and development, both in academia and industry."

Virtual Reality systems enable organizations to cut costs and time, maintain financial and organizational control over the development process, digitally evaluate products before having them created, and allow for greater creative exploration. In this book, VR developers Alan Craig, William Sherman, and Jeffrey Will examine a comprehensive collection of current, unique, and foundational VR applications in a multitude of fields, such as business, science, medicine, art, entertainment, and public safety among others.

An insider s view of what works, what doesn t work, and why, Developing Virtual Reality Applications explores core technical information and background theory as well as the evolution of key applications from their genesis to their most current form. Developmental techniques are cross-referenced between different applications linking information to describe overall VR trends and fundamental best practices. This synergy, coupled with the most up to date research being conducted, provides a hands-on guide for building applications, and an enhanced, panoramic view of VR development. Developing Virtual Reality Applications is an indispensable one-stop reference for anyone working in this burgeoning field.

Dozens of detailed application descriptions provide practical ideas for VR development in ALL areas of interest Development techniques are cross referenced between different application areas, providing fundamental best practices Includes a media-rich companion website with hours of footage from application demonstrations"

Do you spend too much time creating the building blocks of your graphics applications or finding and correcting errors? "Geometric Tools for Computer Graphics" is an extensive, conveniently organized collection of proven solutions to fundamental problems that you'd rather not solve over and over again, including building primitives, distance calculation, approximation, containment, decomposition, intersection determination, separation, and more.

If you have a mathematics degree, this book will save you time and trouble. If you don't, it will help you achieve things you may feel are out of your reach. Inside, each problem is clearly stated and diagrammed, and the fully detailed solutions are presented in easy-to-understand pseudocode. You also get the mathematics and geometry background needed to make optimal use of the solutions, as well as an abundance of reference material contained in a series of appendices.

Features
Filled with robust, thoroughly tested solutions that will save you time and help you avoid costly errors.
Covers problems relevant for both 2D and 3D graphics programming.
Presents each problem and solution in stand-alone form allowing you the option of reading only those entries that matter to you.
Provides the math and geometry background you need to understand the solutions and put them to work.
Clearly diagrams each problem and presents solutions in easy-to-understand pseudocode.
Resources associated with the book are available at the companion Web site www.mkp.com/gtcg.
* Filled with robust, thoroughly tested solutions that will save you time and help you avoid costly errors.
* Covers problems relevant for both 2D and 3D graphics programming.
* Presents each problem and solution in stand-alone form allowing you the option of reading only those entries that matter to you.
* Provides the math and geometry background you need to understand the solutions and put them to work.
* Clearly diagrams each problem and presents solutions in easy-to-understand pseudocode.
* Resources associated with the book are available at the companion Web site www.mkp.com/gtcg.

One of the greatest challenges faced by designers of digital systems is optimizing the communication and interconnection between system components. Interconnection networks offer an attractive and economical solution to this communication crisis and are fast becoming pervasive in digital systems. Current trends suggest that this communication bottleneck will be even more problematic when designing future generations of machines. Consequently, the anatomy of an interconnection network router and science of interconnection network design will only grow in importance in the coming years.
This book offers a detailed and comprehensive presentation of the basic principles of interconnection network design, clearly illustrating them with numerous examples, chapter exercises, and case studies. It incorporates hardware-level descriptions of concepts, allowing a designer to see all the steps of the process from abstract design to concrete implementation.
-Case studies throughout the book draw on extensive author experience in designing interconnection networks over a period of more than twenty years, providing real world examples of what works, and what doesn't.
-Tightly couples concepts with implementation costs to facilitate a deeper understanding of the tradeoffs in the design of a practical network.
-A set of examples and exercises in every chapter help the reader to fully understand all the implications of every design decision.

"Digital Design and Computer Architecture" takes a unique and modern approach to digital design. Beginning with digital logic gates and progressing to the design of combinational and sequential circuits, Harris and Harris use these fundamental building blocks as the basis for what follows: the design of an actual MIPS processor. SystemVerilog and VHDL are integrated throughout the text in examples illustrating the methods and techniques for CAD-based circuit design. By the end of this book, readers will be able to build their own microprocessor and will have a top-to-bottom understanding of how it works. Harris and Harris have combined an engaging and humorous writing style with an updated and hands-on approach to digital design.

This second edition has been updated with new content on I/O systems in the context of general purpose processors found in a PC as well as microcontrollers found almost everywhere. The new edition provides practical examples of how to interface with peripherals using RS232, SPI, motor control, interrupts, wireless, and analog-to-digital conversion. High-level descriptions of I/O interfaces found in PCs include USB, SDRAM, WiFi, PCI Express, and others. In addition to expanded and updated material throughout, SystemVerilog is now featured in the programming and code examples (replacing Verilog), alongside VHDL. This new edition also provides additional exercises and a new appendix on C programming to strengthen the connection between programming and processor architecture.

SECOND Edition Features Covers the fundamentals of digital logic design and reinforces logic concepts through the design of a MIPS microprocessor.Features side-by-side examples of the two most prominent Hardware Description Languages (HDLs)-SystemVerilog and VHDL-which illustrate and compare the ways each can be used in the design of digital systems.Includes examples throughout the text that enhance the reader s understanding and retention of key concepts and techniques.Companion Web site includes links to CAD tools for FPGA design from Altera and Mentor Graphics, lecture slides, laboratory projects, and solutions to exercises.

Updated based on instructor feedback with more exercises and new examples of parallel and advanced architectures, practical I/O applications, embedded systems, and heterogeneous computing Presents digital system design examples in both VHDL and SystemVerilog (updated for the second edition from Verilog), shown side-by-side to compare and contrast their strengthsIncludes a new chapter on C programming to provide necessary prerequisites and strengthen the connection between programming and processor architectureCompanion Web site includes links to Xilinx CAD tools for FPGA design, lecture slides, laboratory projects, and solutions to exercises.

Instructors can also register at textbooks.elsevier.com for access to: Solutions to all exercises (PDF)Lab materials with solutionsHDL for textbook examples and exercise solutions Lecture slides (PPT)Sample exams\Sample course syllabusFigures from the text (JPG, PPT)"

Precharge logic is used by a variety of industries in applications where processor speed is the primary goal, such as VLSI (very large systems integration) applications. Also called dynamic logic, this type of design uses a clock to synchronize instructions in circuits. This comprehensive book covers the challenges faced by designers when using this logic style, including logic basics, timing, noise considerations, alternative topologies and more. In addition advanced topics such as skew tolerant design are covered in some detail. Overall this is a comprehensive view of precharge logic, which should be useful to graduate students and designers in the field alike. It might also be considered as a supplemental title for courses covering VLSI.
Comprehensive guide to precharge logicExplains both the advantages and disadvantages to help engineers decide when to utilize precharge logicUseful for engineers in a variety of industries

What's this AOP thing anyway, really-when you get right down to it-and can someone please explain what an aspect actually is?
Aspect-Oriented Programming with the e Verification Language takes a pragmatic, example based, and fun approach to unraveling the mysteries of AOP. In this book, you'll learn how to:
- Use AOP to organize your code in a way that makes it easy to deal with the things you really care about in your verification environments. Forget about organizing by classes, and start organizing by functionality, layers, components, protocols, functional coverage, checking, or anything that you decide is important to you
- Easily create flexible code that eases your development burden, and gives your users the power to quickly do what they need to do with your code
- Truly create a plug-and-play environment that allows you to add and remove functionality without modifying your code. Examples include how to use AOP to create pluggable debug modules, and a pluggable module that lets you check that your testbench is still working before you begin a regression
- Utilize AOP to sidestep those productivity roadblocks that seem to plague all projects at the most inconvenient of times
- Discover why "return" is evil, and some other "gotchas" with the AOP features of e
All of the methodologies, tips, and techniques described in this book have been developed and tested on real projects, with real people, real schedules and all of the associated problems that come with these. Only the ones that worked, and worked well, have made it in, so by following the advice given in this book, you'll gain access to the true power of AOP while neatly avoiding the effort of workingit all out yourself.
- Use AOP to organize your code in a way that makes it easy to deal with the things you really care about in your verification environments. Forget about organizing by classes, and start organizing by functionality, layers, components, protocols, functional coverage, checking, or anything that you decide is important to you
- Easily create flexible code that eases your development burden, and gives your users the power to quickly do what they need to do with your code
- Truly create a plug-and-play environment that allows you to add and remove functionality without modifying your code. Examples include how to use AOP to create pluggable debug modules, and a pluggable module that lets you check that your testbench is still working before you begin a regression
- Utilize AOP to sidestep those productivity roadblocks that seem to plague all projects at the most inconvenient of times
- Discover why "return" is evil, and some other "gotchas" with the AOP features of e

The steady and unabated increase in the capacity of silicon has brought the semiconductor industry to a watershed challenge. Now a single chip can integrate a radio transceiver, a network interface, multimedia functions, all the "glue" needed to hold it together as well as a design that allows the hardware and software to be reconfigured for future applications. Such complex heterogeneous systems demand a different design methodology. A consortium of industrial and government labs have created a new language and a new design methodology to support this effort. Rosetta permits designers to specify requirements and constraints independent of their low level implementation and to integrate the designs of domains as distinct as digital and analog electronics, and the mechanical, optical, fluidic and thermal subsystems with which they interact.
In this book, Perry Alexander, one of the developers of Rosetta, provides a tutorial introduction to the language and the system-level design methodology it was designed to support.
* The first commercially published book on this system-level design language
* Teaches you all you need to know on how to specify, define, and generate models in Rosetta
* A presentation of complete case studies analyzing design trade-offs for power consumption, security requirements in a networking environment, and constraints for hardware/software co-design

Richard Munden demonstrates how to create and use simulation models for verifying ASIC and FPGA designs and board-level designs that use off-the-shelf digital components. Based on the VHDL/VITAL standard, these models include timing constraints and propagation delays that are required for accurate verification of today s digital designs.
ASIC and FPGA Verification: A Guide to Component Modeling expertly illustrates how ASICs and FPGAs can be verified in the larger context of a board or a system. It is a valuable resource for any designer who simulates multi-chip digital designs.
*Provides numerous models and a clearly defined methodology for performing board-level simulation.
*Covers the details of modeling for verification of both logic and timing.
*First book to collect and teach techniques for using VHDL to model "off-the-shelf" or "IP" digital components for use in FPGA and board-level design verification.

The past few years have seen significant change in the landscape of high-end network processing. In response to the formidable challenges facing this emerging field, the editors of this series set out to survey the latest research and practices in the design, programming, and use of network processors.
Through chapters on hardware, software, performance and modeling, Volume 3 illustrates the potential for new NP applications, helping to lay a theoretical foundation for the architecture, evaluation, and programming of networking processors.
Like Volume 2 of the series, Volume 3 further shifts the focus from achieving higher levels of packet processing performance to addressing other critical factors such as ease of programming, application developments, power, and performance prediction. In addition, Volume 3 emphasizes forward-looking, leading-edge research in the areas of architecture, tools and techniques, and applications such as high-speed intrusion detection and prevention system design, and the implementation of new interconnect standards.
*Investigates current applications of network processor technology at Intel; Infineon Technologies; and NetModule.
Presents current research in network processor design in three distinct areas:
*Architecture at Washington University, St. Louis; Oregon Health and Science University; University of Georgia; and North Carolina State University.
*Tools and Techniques at University of Texas, Austin; Academy of Sciences, China; University of Paderborn, Germany; and University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
*Applications at University of California, Berkeley; Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain; ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Georgia Institute of Technology; Vrije Universiteit, the Netherlands; and Universiteit Leiden, the Netherlands.

The goal of this book is to present and compare various options one for systems architecture from two separate points of view. One, that of the information technology decision-maker who must choose a solution matching company business requirements, and secondly that of the systems architect who finds himself between the rock of changes in hardware and software technologies and the hard place of changing business needs.
Different aspects of server architecture are presented, from databases designed for parallel architectures to high-availability systems, and touching en route on often- neglected performance aspects.
1. The book provides IT managers, decision makers and project leaders who want to acquire knowledge sufficient to understand the choices made in and capabilities of systems offered by various vendors:
2. Provides system design information to balance the characteristic applications against the capabilities and nature of various architectural choices
3. In addition, it offers an integrated view of the concepts in server architecture, accompanied by discussion of effects on the evolution of the data processing industry.

As the demand for digital communication networks has increased, so have the challenges in network component design. To meet ever-escalating performance, flexibility, and economy requirements, the networking industry has opted to build products around network processors. These new chips range from task-specific processors, such as classification and encryption engines, to more general-purpose packet or communications processors. Programmable yet application-specific, their designs are tailored to efficiently implement communications applications such as routing, protocol analysis, voice and data convergence, firewalls, VPNs, and QoS.

Network processor design is an emerging field with issues and opportunities both numerous and formidable. To help meet this challenge, the editors of this volume created the first Workshop on Network Processors, a forum for scientists and engineers from academia and industry to discuss their latest research in the architecture, design, programming, and use of these devices. In addition to including the results of the Workshop in this volume, the editors also present specially commissioned material from practicing designers, who discuss their companies' latest network processors. "Network Processor Design: Issues and Practices" is an essential reference on network processors for graduate students, researchers, and practicing designers.
* Includes contributions from major academic and industrial research labs including Aachen University of Technology; Cisco Systems; Infineon Technologies; Intel Corp.; North Carolina State University; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; University of California, Berkeley; University of Dortmund; University of Washington; and Washington University.
* Examines the latest network processors from Agere Systems, Cisco, IBM, Intel, Motorola, Sierra Inc., and TranSwitch.