Network processor (NP) is a programmable processor used for packet processing in network applications. Today, many vendors are offering different models of NPs for various applications. The major difference amongst them is the capabilities of NPs in terms of the number of microengines (MEs). The main objective of this work is to optimize the usage of MEs during network traffic fluctuation by dynamic reconfiguration. In this paper, packet queue length, which is a function of traffic fluctuation, is used to determine the number of MEs in use at a given point of time. Turning the MEs ON/OFF is done dynamically, when the packet queue length increases/decreases by k. This paper also proposes a new queuing system for this scenario, i.e., dynamically reconfigurable NPs during fluctuating traffic. Intel IXP2400 NP has been adopted for validating the queuing model for different traffic fluctuations. The simulation results closely matched with the analytical results.

network processor, packet processing, microengine, dynamic reconfiguration, M/M/c queue, IXP2400 NP.