OPI Project (Open Programmable Infrastructure) is a new project under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation to standardize an industry on the rise, such as that of DPUs (Data Processing Unit) and IPUs (Infraestructure Processing Unit). And in addition to CPUs and GPUs, silicon manufacturers have developed new types of data processing units (DPUs) and infrastructure processing units (IPUs) in recent years.
The data and cryptography, as well as artificial intelligence and machine language tasks (AI/ML) can be offloaded to dedicated hardware with DPUs and IPUs to speed up processes. DPUs and IPUs have not yet been standardized, but that is about to change. There is currently no industry standardization for implementation, management and programming, but that is about to change. The Linux Foundation has created the OPI Project for that purpose, to collect the efforts of open source DPUs and IPUs and organize vendors to extend their adoption to small and large businesses. The project is supported by Intel, Nvidia, Marvell, F5, Red Hat, Dell, and Keysight Technologies, among others.
In recent years, the IPUs and DPUs they have been included in the architectures and deployments of hyperscalars and cloud providers. Hyperscalers and cloud providers have been able to offer more granular service levels to consumers by including UIPs and UDPs in their architectures and implementations. There is also potential for IPUs and DPUs to help business consumers. All this is contemplated by the OPI Project.
It is certainly interesting to see the Linux Foundation grows, expanding beyond the kernel, with many open source projects and open standards for the technology industry, especially covering those cutting-edge technologies that are revolutionizing the sector.