NetLogic Microsystems is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets high performance knowledge-based processors for a variety of advanced Internet, corporate and other networking systems, such as routers, switches, network security appliances, network access equipment and networked storage devices. Our knowledge-based processors employ an advanced processor architecture and a large knowledge database containing information on the network as well as applications and content that run on the network to make complex decisions about individual packets of information traveling through the network. Our knowledge-based processors significantly enhance the ability of networking original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, to supply network service providers with systems offering more advanced functionality for the Internet, such as application-based routing, voice transmission over the Internet, or VoIP, unified threat management (UTM) network security, virtual private networks, or VPNs, and streaming video and audio.

Our knowledge-based processors enable high-performance Layer 2 through Layer 7 networking, and are designed into systems offered by leading networking OEMs. We have developed close, collaborative relationships with our OEM customers, as well as the third party contract manufacturers used to manufacture their systems.

Rapid growth of voice, video and data traffic, as well as the greater complexity created by the convergence of these types of traffic, increasingly challenges OEMs to offer systems that enable network service providers to introduce new services over the Internet, such as Layer 7 or application-based routing, VoIP, UTM network security, VPNs, video on demand, streaming video and audio and music file downloading. In particular, networking systems must increasingly make complex decisions about individual packets of information using knowledge about the overall network as well as the applications that run on it, thereby requiring network-aware and content-aware processing, respectively. The knowledge database typically includes the method and manner in which these systems are interconnected along with traffic patterns and congestion points, information and characteristics about the various content applications, signatures of harmful security threats such as viruses and intrusions, connection availability, user-based privileges, priorities and other attributes.

Networking OEMs face growing pressure to rapidly introduce new products, reduce their design and manufacturing costs and respond to the growing demand from network service providers for new and advanced services. Theses OEMs choose to focus on their core competencies in the design and development of certain functionalities with their networking systems, as well as systems-level design and integration. As a result, networking OEMs increasingly seek third party providers of advanced processing solutions that complement their core competencies to enable network and content awareness within their systems and meet their escalating performance requirements.

Our knowledge-based processors incorporate advanced technologies that enable rapid processing, such as a superscalar architecture, which uses parallel processing techniques, and deep pipelining, which segments processing tasks into smaller sub-tasks for higher decision throughput. These technologies enable networking systems to perform a broad range of network-aware and content-aware processing functions.

Several powerful trends are increasing demand for content-aware and network-aware processing:

• Increasing Internet traffic. Higher bandwidth necessary for new applications such as file sharing and downloading of MP3 audio files, peer-to-peer voice and video communications, and broadband video streaming to computers, portable media players, mobile phones and other devices requires faster processing speeds;

• Increasing network security. Additional features to prevent security breaches and control access to network destinations require more advanced processing capabilities;

• Convergence of voice, video and data traffic. Sharing of network resources among voice, video and data traffic requires prioritization of communication flows to maintain quality of service; and

• Proliferation of Internet-connected devices. Proliferation of devices connected to the Internet requires greater processing capabilities to facilitate communications between these devices.