Vitesse simplifies PCB design for green enterprise apps

2010 COMPUTEX TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., a leading provider of advanced IC solutions for Carrier and Enterprise networks, has added to the industry’s only 12-port Gigabit Ethernet PHY family with the VSC8522, delivering 50-percent higher density than the leading competitor and energy efficiency features with up to 90-percent power savings when compared to other active 1000BASE-T devices.

Part of Vitesse’s widely adopted SimpliPHY IC family, the VSC8522 boasts 50-percent higher density than the leading transceiver competitor while also reducing the printed circuit board footprint by as much as 50-percent in a 48-port Gigabit Ethernet (GE) solution. When paired with Vitesse’s recently announced SparX-III VSC7427 GE switch, the VSC8522 enables the industry’s only two-chip, 26-port GE switch solution.

OEMs of Ethernet multi-port systems benefit from the VSC8522’s low pin count QSGMII interfaces, facilitating 75-percent more efficient routing between PHY and switch/processor devices compared to SGMII, and more than 95 percent improvement compared to GMII in high-density Ethernet routers and switches.

Additionally, by eliminating media-side resistors, and only requiring two voltage supply levels, the VSC8522 provides OEM designers of Ethernet multi-port systems with extremely low Bill of Materials (BOM) costs and the potential to realize long-term cost savings thanks to reduced packaging sizes.

Leveraging Vitesse’s 65-nm technology, the VSC8522 and the compatible SparX-III GE switch include Vitesse’s unique green EcoEthernet 2.0 features such as IEEE 802.3az idle power savings, ActiPHY automatic link-power down, smart fan control to deliver energy savings up to 90-percent compared to 1000BASE-T devices.

This latest in green technology delivers unprecedented energy efficiency with power dissipation of 365 mW/port for 1000BASE-T copper and <200 mW/port when connected to Fast Ethernet devices.

“Vitesse’s latest 12-port PHY device with EcoEthernet 2.0 technology greatly simplifies printed circuit board complexity and demonstrates our drive to remain at the forefront for bringing green networking technology solutions to market,” said Jason Rock, senior product marketing manager at Vitesse.

“Our goal is to provide Enterprise customers with devices like the VSC8522 designed to alleviate cost concerns while delivering breakthrough performance for next-generation 24-, 48-, and even 96-port line cards, resulting in differentiated end products that meet the latest in green networking initiatives such as EnergyStar’s upcoming equipment specifications.”

Samples of the VSC8522 will be generally available in the third quarter of calendar 2010. Unit price in quantities of 10,000 is $24.24.