HSINCHU, TAIWAN: SpringSoft Inc., a global supplier of specialized IC design software, announced that the Laker Custom Layout Automation System has been deployed by TSMC for mixed-signal, memory, and I/O design applications.
The Laker software provides a consistent, proven implementation flow that supports the custom design requirements of TSMC across a broad range of applications.
As the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, TSMC provides IC design enablement and demonstration focused on nanometer technology and multi-million-gate design. The Laker system provides easy-to-use, automated tools that cut layout time for high quality, complex custom circuits, such as those implemented by the TSMC Design Technology Division.
“Our IC design teams are at the forefront of today’s most demanding custom chip development and design enablement. To deal with the diversity and complexity of these designs, we are constantly evolving our highly tuned design environment with tools and methodologies such as the Laker layout system that help break down design barriers,” said Tom Quan, deputy director of design methodology and service marketing at TSMC.
Duncan McDonald, director of custom IC product marketing at SpringSoft, said: “For custom chip development teams, saving time is the key to meeting aggressive design goals and delivery schedules. The time TSMC has saved underscores the value Laker tools and flows bring to its design environment and to the implementation services TSMC offers foundry customers.”
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Ambitious Intel Atom processor plans, products outlined at Computex 2010
TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Intel Corp. has unveiled new products and features based on its low-power Intel Atom processor family, including plans to further differentiate the popular netbook category and expand into several new market segments beyond its growing PC, laptop and server businesses.
In the past 45 days, Intel and its Atom processor has entered a variety of markets beyond the more than 50 million Intel-based netbooks sold in the past two years.
Intel announced a processor and MeeGo* software win with Chinese carmaker HawTai Automobile for a future in-vehicle-infotainment platform; a greater than 50-times lower platform idle power reduction with Intel’s next generation Atom processor platform for handheld devices including smartphones; and a collaboration with Google, Sony and Logitech to deliver a new Smart TVs experience powered by Intel Atom CE products and running Android-based Google TV.
Intel recently unveiled the future System on Chip (SoC) Atom-based “Tunnel Creek” that, for the first time, will allow other companies to connect their own custom silicon to Intel’s SoC product. The Intel Atom processor also powers the Intel Reader, and the company has received more than 3,000 non-PC design inquiries – most new-to-Intel potential customers – ranging from fish finders to golf carts.
During his keynote, David (Dadi) Perlmutter, executive vice president and co-general manager, Intel Architecture Group, touched on these and other Intel efforts, which included showing off the world’s thinnest netbook running on the upcoming mobile dual-core “Pine Trail.”
At just 14mm, the razor-thin “Canoe Lake” innovation platform runs cooler and is 50 percent thinner than any other netbook consumers can find on the market today. In addition, Perlmutter showed a range of other Intel Atom-based devices spanning energy efficient blade servers, retailing systems, presentation projectors and multiple tablets.
“Intel believes the strength of the Atom™ franchise can help consumers realize the true potential for a common experience to enable the compute continuum,” said Perlmutter. “With platforms ranging from compact and portable netbooks, to Smart TV experiences and innovative tablets designs, Intel Architecture is driving innovative products based on a unique ‘port of choice’ software strategy.”
Keynote highlights
Citing a million PCs sold a day, Perlmutter also highlighted the momentum around the all new 2010 Intel Core processor family, including Intel Wireless Display and an overview of next-generation Intel Core processors using the Intel microarchitecture codenamed “Sandy Bridge,” targeted to be in production late 2010.
Renee James, senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group at Intel, joined Perlmutter onstage to discuss how software – and software choice – will help drive Intel’s vision for Atom and a cross-device experience. This provides consumers consistency and accessibility to their content on a choice of computers and PC-like devices.
James also announced that Asus will be the first OEM to ship a pre-installed, customized AppUp client called “asus app store” on netbooks this fall, beginning with Windows and following with MeeGo*-based systems.
Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci discussed with Perlmutter how future Intel Atom-based netbooks and tablets from Acer, running the MeeGo* software platform, will foster an open ecosystem of innovation.
“Acer will be ready with MeeGo-based mobile devices,” said Lanci. “MeeGo’s open software platform will present our customers with another choice of a friendly, easy-to-use operating system. We are pleased to collaborate with Intel in our continuous drive to provide effortless technologies that empower people at work, home - anytime, anywhere.”
New Intel Atom processors on tap
In production now and on shelves before the winter holiday season, mobile dual-core Intel Atom processors will deliver a noticeably snappier, more responsive consumer experience in the same compact form factors, and with the same great battery life.
Intel Atom processors N455 and N475 with DDR3 support for netbooks are available today and D525 and D425 for entry-level desktop PCs are expected to be available on June 21.
Available to customers in early 2011, “Oak Trail” is our upcoming SoC Intel Atom platform optimized for sleek tablet and netbook designs, delivering up to a 50 percent reduction in average power consumption with full HD-video playback and targeting software choice including MeeGo, Windows 7 and Google operating systems.
In the past 45 days, Intel and its Atom processor has entered a variety of markets beyond the more than 50 million Intel-based netbooks sold in the past two years.
Intel announced a processor and MeeGo* software win with Chinese carmaker HawTai Automobile for a future in-vehicle-infotainment platform; a greater than 50-times lower platform idle power reduction with Intel’s next generation Atom processor platform for handheld devices including smartphones; and a collaboration with Google, Sony and Logitech to deliver a new Smart TVs experience powered by Intel Atom CE products and running Android-based Google TV.
Intel recently unveiled the future System on Chip (SoC) Atom-based “Tunnel Creek” that, for the first time, will allow other companies to connect their own custom silicon to Intel’s SoC product. The Intel Atom processor also powers the Intel Reader, and the company has received more than 3,000 non-PC design inquiries – most new-to-Intel potential customers – ranging from fish finders to golf carts.
During his keynote, David (Dadi) Perlmutter, executive vice president and co-general manager, Intel Architecture Group, touched on these and other Intel efforts, which included showing off the world’s thinnest netbook running on the upcoming mobile dual-core “Pine Trail.”
At just 14mm, the razor-thin “Canoe Lake” innovation platform runs cooler and is 50 percent thinner than any other netbook consumers can find on the market today. In addition, Perlmutter showed a range of other Intel Atom-based devices spanning energy efficient blade servers, retailing systems, presentation projectors and multiple tablets.
“Intel believes the strength of the Atom™ franchise can help consumers realize the true potential for a common experience to enable the compute continuum,” said Perlmutter. “With platforms ranging from compact and portable netbooks, to Smart TV experiences and innovative tablets designs, Intel Architecture is driving innovative products based on a unique ‘port of choice’ software strategy.”
Keynote highlights
Citing a million PCs sold a day, Perlmutter also highlighted the momentum around the all new 2010 Intel Core processor family, including Intel Wireless Display and an overview of next-generation Intel Core processors using the Intel microarchitecture codenamed “Sandy Bridge,” targeted to be in production late 2010.
Renee James, senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group at Intel, joined Perlmutter onstage to discuss how software – and software choice – will help drive Intel’s vision for Atom and a cross-device experience. This provides consumers consistency and accessibility to their content on a choice of computers and PC-like devices.
James also announced that Asus will be the first OEM to ship a pre-installed, customized AppUp client called “asus app store” on netbooks this fall, beginning with Windows and following with MeeGo*-based systems.
Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci discussed with Perlmutter how future Intel Atom-based netbooks and tablets from Acer, running the MeeGo* software platform, will foster an open ecosystem of innovation.
“Acer will be ready with MeeGo-based mobile devices,” said Lanci. “MeeGo’s open software platform will present our customers with another choice of a friendly, easy-to-use operating system. We are pleased to collaborate with Intel in our continuous drive to provide effortless technologies that empower people at work, home - anytime, anywhere.”
New Intel Atom processors on tap
In production now and on shelves before the winter holiday season, mobile dual-core Intel Atom processors will deliver a noticeably snappier, more responsive consumer experience in the same compact form factors, and with the same great battery life.
Intel Atom processors N455 and N475 with DDR3 support for netbooks are available today and D525 and D425 for entry-level desktop PCs are expected to be available on June 21.
Available to customers in early 2011, “Oak Trail” is our upcoming SoC Intel Atom platform optimized for sleek tablet and netbook designs, delivering up to a 50 percent reduction in average power consumption with full HD-video playback and targeting software choice including MeeGo, Windows 7 and Google operating systems.
Luxtera advances optical technology to support 100Gbps interconnects for datacenters
International Supercomputing Conference 2010, HAMBURG, GERMANY: Luxtera, a leader in Silicon CMOS Photonics, announced that its optical modulators now support next-generation 30Gbps serial data rates, a key step towards enabling four lane parallel 100Gbps interconnects.
Luxtera’s technology addresses the growing market for optical interconnects including next-generation Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand networks projecting data speeds of up to 100Gbps per Port. By leveraging the benefits of Silicon CMOS Photonics, Luxtera’s transmitters support unprecedented levels of optical bandwidth to provide higher performance and longer reach at a lower cost than traditional datacenter technologies.
“As InfiniBand transitions to EDR data rates and Ethernet transitions to 100GE, there is an increasing need for low cost, high-throughput interconnects to support large-scale computing systems and datacenters,” said Lisa Huff of CIR and Discerning Analytics.
“Traditionally, this market has been serviced by vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and multi-mode fiber, which may reach performance limitations beyond 10Gbps. Luxtera’s Silicon Photonics-based transmitters enable datacenters to keep pace with bandwidth needs, providing end-users with enhanced performance that will support 100Gbps deployments at economical cost points.”
Datacenter connectivity options, such as legacy copper and VCSEL-based multi-mode fiber transceivers, are today limited in reach, size and performance. When pushing conventional, short reach optical components to higher speeds of 30Gbps and beyond, transceivers based on VCSEL technology will face numerous technical obstacles such as achieving the required modulation bandwidth, receiver sensitivity and effects of multimode-fiber dispersion.
In addition, at higher data rates VCSEL-based transceivers will be challenged to meet stringent performance and reliability requirements expected by datacenter managers. Luxtera utilizes Silicon CMOS Photonics to break performance restrictions associated with existing optical technologies. This lowers cost and eliminates reach limitation as well as reliability concerns to provide the bandwidth, low power and low bit error rate required by advanced high performance computer clusters and large scale datacenters.
Silicon Photonics transmitters utilize continuous wave (CW) lasers and Mach-Zehnder interferometer CMOS waveguide based modulators. This technology removes the need for expensive high-speed directly-modulated lasers and, when combined with Luxtera’s fiber-to-the-chip single-mode fiber transmission, overcomes the shortcomings of multi-mode fiber. Luxtera has already successfully demonstrated a 30Gbps modulator system implemented in a monolithic Silicon CMOS chip.
“By demonstrating 30Gbps modulators implemented in production-ready CMOS process technology, Luxtera’s team continues to lead optical innovation in Silicon Photonics,” said Marek Tlalka, vice president of marketing for Luxtera.
“We are the first company to ship Silicon CMOS Photonics-based commercial products. Our 30G transmitter overcomes performance constraints associated with traditional optics. We are paving the way to the next wave of Silicon Photonics commercial applications as well as wide deployment of low cost optical connectivity for EDR InfiniBand, 100G Ethernet and 28G Fibre Channel applications.”
Luxtera will be participating at this year’s International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in Hamburg, Germany, co-exhibiting with its sales partner Stordis in booth number 150. The company’s 40G Active Optical Cables (AOC), Blazar, are once again providing connectivity for the ISCnet InfiniBand network, built for high performance computing demonstrations, at this year’s event.
By utilizing Silicon CMOS Photonics and single-mode fiber, Blazar can support reach up to 4,000 meters and offers the industry’s lowest power consumption of 20mW per Gigabit. Blazar is currently shipping in production volumes. Next-generation products based on 30Gbps transmitter technology will sample in 2011.
Luxtera’s technology addresses the growing market for optical interconnects including next-generation Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand networks projecting data speeds of up to 100Gbps per Port. By leveraging the benefits of Silicon CMOS Photonics, Luxtera’s transmitters support unprecedented levels of optical bandwidth to provide higher performance and longer reach at a lower cost than traditional datacenter technologies.
“As InfiniBand transitions to EDR data rates and Ethernet transitions to 100GE, there is an increasing need for low cost, high-throughput interconnects to support large-scale computing systems and datacenters,” said Lisa Huff of CIR and Discerning Analytics.
“Traditionally, this market has been serviced by vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and multi-mode fiber, which may reach performance limitations beyond 10Gbps. Luxtera’s Silicon Photonics-based transmitters enable datacenters to keep pace with bandwidth needs, providing end-users with enhanced performance that will support 100Gbps deployments at economical cost points.”
Datacenter connectivity options, such as legacy copper and VCSEL-based multi-mode fiber transceivers, are today limited in reach, size and performance. When pushing conventional, short reach optical components to higher speeds of 30Gbps and beyond, transceivers based on VCSEL technology will face numerous technical obstacles such as achieving the required modulation bandwidth, receiver sensitivity and effects of multimode-fiber dispersion.
In addition, at higher data rates VCSEL-based transceivers will be challenged to meet stringent performance and reliability requirements expected by datacenter managers. Luxtera utilizes Silicon CMOS Photonics to break performance restrictions associated with existing optical technologies. This lowers cost and eliminates reach limitation as well as reliability concerns to provide the bandwidth, low power and low bit error rate required by advanced high performance computer clusters and large scale datacenters.
Silicon Photonics transmitters utilize continuous wave (CW) lasers and Mach-Zehnder interferometer CMOS waveguide based modulators. This technology removes the need for expensive high-speed directly-modulated lasers and, when combined with Luxtera’s fiber-to-the-chip single-mode fiber transmission, overcomes the shortcomings of multi-mode fiber. Luxtera has already successfully demonstrated a 30Gbps modulator system implemented in a monolithic Silicon CMOS chip.
“By demonstrating 30Gbps modulators implemented in production-ready CMOS process technology, Luxtera’s team continues to lead optical innovation in Silicon Photonics,” said Marek Tlalka, vice president of marketing for Luxtera.
“We are the first company to ship Silicon CMOS Photonics-based commercial products. Our 30G transmitter overcomes performance constraints associated with traditional optics. We are paving the way to the next wave of Silicon Photonics commercial applications as well as wide deployment of low cost optical connectivity for EDR InfiniBand, 100G Ethernet and 28G Fibre Channel applications.”
Luxtera will be participating at this year’s International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in Hamburg, Germany, co-exhibiting with its sales partner Stordis in booth number 150. The company’s 40G Active Optical Cables (AOC), Blazar, are once again providing connectivity for the ISCnet InfiniBand network, built for high performance computing demonstrations, at this year’s event.
By utilizing Silicon CMOS Photonics and single-mode fiber, Blazar can support reach up to 4,000 meters and offers the industry’s lowest power consumption of 20mW per Gigabit. Blazar is currently shipping in production volumes. Next-generation products based on 30Gbps transmitter technology will sample in 2011.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES expands worldwide manufacturing capacity
2010 COMPUTEX TAIPEI, TAIWAN: GLOBALFOUNDRIES has announced plans to expand its global semiconductor manufacturing operations with a series of new projects across its 300mm operations designed to support expected increases in both near-term and long-term customer demand. These projects consist of two major new initiatives:
* The construction of an additional wafer manufacturing facility at Fab 1 in Dresden designed to add additional 45/40/28nm capacity and increase overall output to 80,000 wafers per month once fully ramped.
* Expanding the cleanroom shell currently under construction at Fab 8 in New York to provide the option to increase capacity at 28/22/20nm and bring overall site output up to 60,000 wafers per month once fully equipped.
By making additional investments in leading-edge capacity, GLOBALFOUNDRIES continues to take an aggressive long-term approach to driving sustained growth and technology leadership on advanced technologies. These new expansion projects are also expected to create hundreds of new jobs at the Fab 1 and Fab 8 campuses.
“Our 300mm fabs have been consistently ranked among the most advanced and efficient in the industry,” said Chia Song Hwee, chief operating officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES.
“Now we are taking our heritage of lean foundry manufacturing and world-class fab performance and making it available on a broader scale to meet the demands of the world’s leading chip design companies. With this aggressive capacity build-out plan, we are well positioned to provide new and existing customers with the fastest option to get advanced products to market in the volumes they need to ensure success.”
At the company’s leading-edge Dresden manufacturing campus, Fab 1, the expansion focus will be on adding new capacity to support additional growth opportunities for 45/40/28nm technologies as well as initial 22nm development. This expansion will see a new facility constructed at Fab 1 that will add nearly 110,000 square feet of cleanroom space to enable the site to scale output up to 80,000 wafers per month over the next two years.
The largest wafer fab in Europe, Fab 1’s leading-edge wafer fabrication equipment will cover an area equivalent to approximately eight soccer fields. The first output from this new expansion is expected in 2011 with construction work planned to start immediately. The start of this expansion project at Fab 1 is, however, still subject to the approval of a state aid package by the German authorities and the European Commission.
To support long-term growth at the 22/20nm generation, GLOBALFOUNDRIES plans to expand Fab 8, the company’s new leading-edge fab currently under construction at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York. The expansion will increase the size of the cleanroom shell by approximately 90,000 square feet, bringing the total available cleanroom space to approximately 300,000 square feet, equivalent to roughly six soccer fields of state-of-the-art wafer fabrication equipment.
The total facility, including cleanroom support infrastructure and office space, includes more than 1.3 million square feet of space and is expected to come online in 2012 with volume production targeted for early 2013. The larger cleanroom would allow for the future fit-up and equipment necessary to enable a total output of approximately 60,000 wafers per month once fully ramped.
In addition to the capacity expansion projects at Fab 1 and Fab 8, GLOBALFOUNDRIES majority shareholder, the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), announced initial plans for the creation of an advanced technology cluster in Abu Dhabi. The site, adjacent to Abu Dhabi International Airport and measuring three square kilometers in size, is ideally suited to house a future advanced technology cluster in the region with close proximity to regional transportation hubs and physical infrastructure.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES is committed to partnering with ATIC to share best practices and expertise in cluster creation in the near-term and putting a significant technology and manufacturing presence in the region long term. The goal for the site is to be the Middle Eastern hub of a global technology and manufacturing network to support the long-term deployment of capital for ATIC portfolio companies, in capital-intensive advanced technologies.
“The formation of the new GLOBALFOUNDRIES was predicated on creating a world-class technology and manufacturing company that had the scale and resources to compete for industry leadership in this capital intensive market,” said Ibrahim Ajami, chief executive officer, ATIC.
“For ATIC, this also represented the first step in Abu Dhabi’s vision to become a leader in the semiconductor industry. Today we announce the next phase as we take our first steps in establishing a world-class advanced technology cluster over the coming years. We look forward to working with the GLOBALFOUNDRIES team to leverage the collective successes of Singapore, Dresden and New York as we create the industry’s next innovation cluster in Abu Dhabi.”
In addition to new expansion initiatives in Dresden and New York, GLOBALFOUNDRIES also is continuing with its previously announced expansion at Fab 7 in Singapore to reach an output level of 50,000 wafers per month, an increase of nearly 50 percent from current levels. During the expansion, Fab 7 will continue to focus on manufacturing technologies ranging from the 65nm to 40nm technology nodes.
* The construction of an additional wafer manufacturing facility at Fab 1 in Dresden designed to add additional 45/40/28nm capacity and increase overall output to 80,000 wafers per month once fully ramped.
* Expanding the cleanroom shell currently under construction at Fab 8 in New York to provide the option to increase capacity at 28/22/20nm and bring overall site output up to 60,000 wafers per month once fully equipped.
By making additional investments in leading-edge capacity, GLOBALFOUNDRIES continues to take an aggressive long-term approach to driving sustained growth and technology leadership on advanced technologies. These new expansion projects are also expected to create hundreds of new jobs at the Fab 1 and Fab 8 campuses.
“Our 300mm fabs have been consistently ranked among the most advanced and efficient in the industry,” said Chia Song Hwee, chief operating officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES.
“Now we are taking our heritage of lean foundry manufacturing and world-class fab performance and making it available on a broader scale to meet the demands of the world’s leading chip design companies. With this aggressive capacity build-out plan, we are well positioned to provide new and existing customers with the fastest option to get advanced products to market in the volumes they need to ensure success.”
At the company’s leading-edge Dresden manufacturing campus, Fab 1, the expansion focus will be on adding new capacity to support additional growth opportunities for 45/40/28nm technologies as well as initial 22nm development. This expansion will see a new facility constructed at Fab 1 that will add nearly 110,000 square feet of cleanroom space to enable the site to scale output up to 80,000 wafers per month over the next two years.
The largest wafer fab in Europe, Fab 1’s leading-edge wafer fabrication equipment will cover an area equivalent to approximately eight soccer fields. The first output from this new expansion is expected in 2011 with construction work planned to start immediately. The start of this expansion project at Fab 1 is, however, still subject to the approval of a state aid package by the German authorities and the European Commission.
To support long-term growth at the 22/20nm generation, GLOBALFOUNDRIES plans to expand Fab 8, the company’s new leading-edge fab currently under construction at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York. The expansion will increase the size of the cleanroom shell by approximately 90,000 square feet, bringing the total available cleanroom space to approximately 300,000 square feet, equivalent to roughly six soccer fields of state-of-the-art wafer fabrication equipment.
The total facility, including cleanroom support infrastructure and office space, includes more than 1.3 million square feet of space and is expected to come online in 2012 with volume production targeted for early 2013. The larger cleanroom would allow for the future fit-up and equipment necessary to enable a total output of approximately 60,000 wafers per month once fully ramped.
In addition to the capacity expansion projects at Fab 1 and Fab 8, GLOBALFOUNDRIES majority shareholder, the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), announced initial plans for the creation of an advanced technology cluster in Abu Dhabi. The site, adjacent to Abu Dhabi International Airport and measuring three square kilometers in size, is ideally suited to house a future advanced technology cluster in the region with close proximity to regional transportation hubs and physical infrastructure.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES is committed to partnering with ATIC to share best practices and expertise in cluster creation in the near-term and putting a significant technology and manufacturing presence in the region long term. The goal for the site is to be the Middle Eastern hub of a global technology and manufacturing network to support the long-term deployment of capital for ATIC portfolio companies, in capital-intensive advanced technologies.
“The formation of the new GLOBALFOUNDRIES was predicated on creating a world-class technology and manufacturing company that had the scale and resources to compete for industry leadership in this capital intensive market,” said Ibrahim Ajami, chief executive officer, ATIC.
“For ATIC, this also represented the first step in Abu Dhabi’s vision to become a leader in the semiconductor industry. Today we announce the next phase as we take our first steps in establishing a world-class advanced technology cluster over the coming years. We look forward to working with the GLOBALFOUNDRIES team to leverage the collective successes of Singapore, Dresden and New York as we create the industry’s next innovation cluster in Abu Dhabi.”
In addition to new expansion initiatives in Dresden and New York, GLOBALFOUNDRIES also is continuing with its previously announced expansion at Fab 7 in Singapore to reach an output level of 50,000 wafers per month, an increase of nearly 50 percent from current levels. During the expansion, Fab 7 will continue to focus on manufacturing technologies ranging from the 65nm to 40nm technology nodes.
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.
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.
Symwave cuts power, system cost, size with 2nd generation USB 3.0 storage controller
2010 COMPUTEX TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Symwave, a leading silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB devices, today announced the immediate availability of SW6313, Symwave’s second generation USB 3.0 storage controller.
The SW6313 device is the industry’s lowest power and highest performance solution, optimized for cost-sensitive and portable storage products. Symwave’s current customers will also benefit from software compatibility with its first generation devices – such as the SW6316 – which has been in production since late 2009.
The accelerated transition from USB 2.0 to SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is driving an explosive unit growth across all storage applications and form-factors. By achieving new levels of cost, power, and size, Symwave now targets over 50 million units in the coming year.
Symwave’s patented mixed-signal architecture and proprietary software deliver unparalleled performance, bridging data from a USB 3.0 host to external hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid state drives (SSDs). The SW6313 System-on-Chip (SoC) delivers the same industry leading performance as Symwave’s first generation devices launched in 2009, while dramatically reducing overall power dissipation.
The SW6313 is fully compliant with USB 3.0 and SATA-II specifications, fully supports the recently released UASP revision 1.0 specification, and includes an AES hardware encryption engine capable of encrypting data at full line speed.
“The SW6313 underscores Symwave’s continued USB 3.0 industry leadership and SoC engineering expertise. By partnering with the USB-IF, our leading customers, host solution providers, and software companies, Symwave has continued to aggressively advance our products,” said Yossi Cohen, President and CEO of Symwave.
“With over two years of focus on USB 3.0 and six months of shipping field-proven solutions with the leading storage OEMs, we used our cumulative experience to deliver the absolute best system solution in terms of performance, power, system cost, and a software rich platform to our customers.”
The SW6313 comes with the industry’s most robust and feature rich software and is compatible with Symwave’s production released first generation devices. Symwave customers will benefit greatly by leveraging all their design effort when migrating to the new solution. The SW6313 is designed to meet all the USB-IF certification and compliance program requirements for SuperSpeed USB devices.
The SW6313 is fully compatible with all Windows mass storage class drivers and also supports USB Attached SCSI (UAS) for maximum performance. Symwave offers customers a complete turn-key software development kit (SDK) solution, including reference design hardware, firmware, software, tools and documentation to speed time-to-market and enable value-added hardware and software customization.
The SW6313 will be demonstrated at Computex 2010.
The SW6313 device is the industry’s lowest power and highest performance solution, optimized for cost-sensitive and portable storage products. Symwave’s current customers will also benefit from software compatibility with its first generation devices – such as the SW6316 – which has been in production since late 2009.
The accelerated transition from USB 2.0 to SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is driving an explosive unit growth across all storage applications and form-factors. By achieving new levels of cost, power, and size, Symwave now targets over 50 million units in the coming year.
Symwave’s patented mixed-signal architecture and proprietary software deliver unparalleled performance, bridging data from a USB 3.0 host to external hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid state drives (SSDs). The SW6313 System-on-Chip (SoC) delivers the same industry leading performance as Symwave’s first generation devices launched in 2009, while dramatically reducing overall power dissipation.
The SW6313 is fully compliant with USB 3.0 and SATA-II specifications, fully supports the recently released UASP revision 1.0 specification, and includes an AES hardware encryption engine capable of encrypting data at full line speed.
“The SW6313 underscores Symwave’s continued USB 3.0 industry leadership and SoC engineering expertise. By partnering with the USB-IF, our leading customers, host solution providers, and software companies, Symwave has continued to aggressively advance our products,” said Yossi Cohen, President and CEO of Symwave.
“With over two years of focus on USB 3.0 and six months of shipping field-proven solutions with the leading storage OEMs, we used our cumulative experience to deliver the absolute best system solution in terms of performance, power, system cost, and a software rich platform to our customers.”
The SW6313 comes with the industry’s most robust and feature rich software and is compatible with Symwave’s production released first generation devices. Symwave customers will benefit greatly by leveraging all their design effort when migrating to the new solution. The SW6313 is designed to meet all the USB-IF certification and compliance program requirements for SuperSpeed USB devices.
The SW6313 is fully compatible with all Windows mass storage class drivers and also supports USB Attached SCSI (UAS) for maximum performance. Symwave offers customers a complete turn-key software development kit (SDK) solution, including reference design hardware, firmware, software, tools and documentation to speed time-to-market and enable value-added hardware and software customization.
The SW6313 will be demonstrated at Computex 2010.
DRAMeXchange Compuforum 2010: The Revival of memory – next opportunity
TAIWAN: Tofay, DRAMeXchange held its annual seminar, Compuforum 2010 and gathered industry leaders from around the world to share their knowledge in the production, market trend and technical aspects of the memory industry.
According to Joyce Yang, Vice President of DRAMeXchange Research Division of TrendForce Corp., 2010 PC growth estimated at 16 percent YoY, which will have impact on component and DRAM shortage. NAND Flash rebounded from the bottom of 2009. Given the dynamics of iPad launch from Apple, the strong smartphone growth momentum, 3xnm/2xnm migration and rising TLC portion.
Joyce Yang states after loss was recorded in three consecutive years, DRAM vendors cut the capacity drastically in 4Q08. With the 8” fab phase out, total DRAM capacity had reduced 20 percent and DRAM vendors finally returned to the positive profit in 2009 with rebounding price.
DRAM vendors initiated the 4nm migration in 2010. However, 2010 DRAM supply growth still lies in uncertainty due to the difficulty in technology migration and immersion scanner shortage. Triggered by the recovering global economy and PC replacement effect, PC-OEMS shows the aggressive shipment perspective.
Dr. Antonio Mesquida Küsters, Director of Market Intelligence of ASML, states that the memory industry is now recovering fast, driven by better than expected end-user demand for PCs and smart-phones paired with supply shortages, as a result of significant 200 mm capacity retirements during the last two years.
Thus, both DRAM and NAND prices are high and expected to keep stable for the coming quarters, driven by expected supply shortages. At the same time, all memory makers are putting their current efforts in transferring their existing technology generations into the next node by buying leading-edge lithography systems from ASML.
Alex Wang, President of Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., says after experiencing disastrous ten consecutive quarters of loss, the DRAM industry is back on track and returning to its glory days. Looking into the future and reviewing the past, DRAM vendors will focus on profitability rather than market share.
According to Joe Chen, General Manager of Zentel Electronics Corp., DRAM is very widely used in various applications including not only computers but also digital consumer and communication devices.
Ranging from 16Mb through 1Gb, the DRAM for consumer applications typically have lower density but higher bandwidth than those for computers. SDR (Single data rate) and DDR (double data rate) are the most popular architectures, with DDR-2 emerging very quickly for the high performance video applications.
Doreet Oren ,Marketing Director of SanDisk, states that SSD’s multiple benefits enable a growing variety of Client PC devices. SSD manufactures must carefully tailor the specific needs for each usage model to best support the end user. SSDs need to meet different specs of performance, power consumption, and reliability and an assortment of form factors to address diverse needs.
Error Correction Code (ECC) is typically used to correct errors and retain reliability in NAND-based products and systems. However, the shrink in process geometries, and the migration from SLC to MLC, and from 2-bit MLC to 3- and 4-bits-per-cell, result in a dramatic increase in NAND’s physical impairments. These include cross-coupling, read and program disturbs, data retention and endurance impairments.
A new technology termed Memory Signal Processing (MSP) is presented, which integrates advanced ECC with proprietary signal processing algorithms that compensate for NAND’s physical limitations. The result provides NAND-based products and systems ranging from UFDs and SD cards to enterprise class SSDs with significantly improved reliability and performance says Yoav Kasorla, Program Manager of Anobit.
Jet Huang, Chief Operation Officer of JMicron Technology Corp., reveals the next 10 years will be an era of Cloud Computing. Everything will be computed in the Cloud. Therefore, Cloud needs more powerful servers and more quickly accessible storages. The characteristics of SSD and NAND Flash is high access rate and thin volume, which fits the need of cloud computing.
eTT (Effectively Tested) DRAM is being adopted in large volume by DRAM module manufacturers and computer system integraters for the benefits of price and availability. However there are concerns on eTT parts for shortcomings in quality and reliability due to its shortened or omitted test screening conditions.
Ukyo Jeng, Senior Director of A-DATA examines the difference in test conditions between eTT parts and fully finished parts, and demonstrates ways to achieve equivalent quality level of finished DRAM module using eTT parts.
According to Joyce Yang, Vice President of DRAMeXchange Research Division of TrendForce Corp., 2010 PC growth estimated at 16 percent YoY, which will have impact on component and DRAM shortage. NAND Flash rebounded from the bottom of 2009. Given the dynamics of iPad launch from Apple, the strong smartphone growth momentum, 3xnm/2xnm migration and rising TLC portion.
Joyce Yang states after loss was recorded in three consecutive years, DRAM vendors cut the capacity drastically in 4Q08. With the 8” fab phase out, total DRAM capacity had reduced 20 percent and DRAM vendors finally returned to the positive profit in 2009 with rebounding price.
DRAM vendors initiated the 4nm migration in 2010. However, 2010 DRAM supply growth still lies in uncertainty due to the difficulty in technology migration and immersion scanner shortage. Triggered by the recovering global economy and PC replacement effect, PC-OEMS shows the aggressive shipment perspective.
Dr. Antonio Mesquida Küsters, Director of Market Intelligence of ASML, states that the memory industry is now recovering fast, driven by better than expected end-user demand for PCs and smart-phones paired with supply shortages, as a result of significant 200 mm capacity retirements during the last two years.
Thus, both DRAM and NAND prices are high and expected to keep stable for the coming quarters, driven by expected supply shortages. At the same time, all memory makers are putting their current efforts in transferring their existing technology generations into the next node by buying leading-edge lithography systems from ASML.
Alex Wang, President of Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., says after experiencing disastrous ten consecutive quarters of loss, the DRAM industry is back on track and returning to its glory days. Looking into the future and reviewing the past, DRAM vendors will focus on profitability rather than market share.
According to Joe Chen, General Manager of Zentel Electronics Corp., DRAM is very widely used in various applications including not only computers but also digital consumer and communication devices.
Ranging from 16Mb through 1Gb, the DRAM for consumer applications typically have lower density but higher bandwidth than those for computers. SDR (Single data rate) and DDR (double data rate) are the most popular architectures, with DDR-2 emerging very quickly for the high performance video applications.
Doreet Oren ,Marketing Director of SanDisk, states that SSD’s multiple benefits enable a growing variety of Client PC devices. SSD manufactures must carefully tailor the specific needs for each usage model to best support the end user. SSDs need to meet different specs of performance, power consumption, and reliability and an assortment of form factors to address diverse needs.
Error Correction Code (ECC) is typically used to correct errors and retain reliability in NAND-based products and systems. However, the shrink in process geometries, and the migration from SLC to MLC, and from 2-bit MLC to 3- and 4-bits-per-cell, result in a dramatic increase in NAND’s physical impairments. These include cross-coupling, read and program disturbs, data retention and endurance impairments.
A new technology termed Memory Signal Processing (MSP) is presented, which integrates advanced ECC with proprietary signal processing algorithms that compensate for NAND’s physical limitations. The result provides NAND-based products and systems ranging from UFDs and SD cards to enterprise class SSDs with significantly improved reliability and performance says Yoav Kasorla, Program Manager of Anobit.
Jet Huang, Chief Operation Officer of JMicron Technology Corp., reveals the next 10 years will be an era of Cloud Computing. Everything will be computed in the Cloud. Therefore, Cloud needs more powerful servers and more quickly accessible storages. The characteristics of SSD and NAND Flash is high access rate and thin volume, which fits the need of cloud computing.
eTT (Effectively Tested) DRAM is being adopted in large volume by DRAM module manufacturers and computer system integraters for the benefits of price and availability. However there are concerns on eTT parts for shortcomings in quality and reliability due to its shortened or omitted test screening conditions.
Ukyo Jeng, Senior Director of A-DATA examines the difference in test conditions between eTT parts and fully finished parts, and demonstrates ways to achieve equivalent quality level of finished DRAM module using eTT parts.
Lucid and MSI make multi-GPU gaming accessible to the masses
KFAR NETTER, ISRAEL, TAIPEI, TAIWAN, SANTA CLARA, USA: This week at Computex, LucidLogix and MSI have announced that the Lucid HYDRA 200 real time distributed processor is now being used in MSI’s 870A Fuzion and P55A Fuzion motherboards. The new motherboards will provide consumers with performance multi-core graphics and gaming at an affordable price along with the flexibility to choose any major brand graphics card and CPU platform.
MSI was the first to introduce a motherboard with the HYDRA 200 in its high-end Big Bang Fuzion in January 2010. Now, the company is launching two new products that will deliver the benefits of silicon-agnostic, multi-GPU computing to mainstream motherboards. Even budget-conscious consumers will now have the freedom to mix and match up to three ATI or NVIDIA graphics accelerators of their choice (new or repurposed), while also adding the flexibility to use choose between platforms.
“MSI shares the Lucid multi-GPU vision of taking high performance graphics to the masses,” said LucidLogix Co-founder and President, Offir Remez. “By bringing Lucid and MSI to new market segments, it further solidifies our relationship and gives consumers freedom of choice.”
Designed with the PC gamer in mind, the HYDRA engine offers a flexible solution for performance hungry consumers who may wish to upgrade to multiple GPUs from a variety of vendors. This new approach provides interoperability among GPUs and chipsets, auto-correct load balancing and multiple GPUs that simultaneously process a single frame within a game, thus resolving bottlenecks and inter-frame dependencies prior to rendering.
MSI was the first to introduce a motherboard with the HYDRA 200 in its high-end Big Bang Fuzion in January 2010. Now, the company is launching two new products that will deliver the benefits of silicon-agnostic, multi-GPU computing to mainstream motherboards. Even budget-conscious consumers will now have the freedom to mix and match up to three ATI or NVIDIA graphics accelerators of their choice (new or repurposed), while also adding the flexibility to use choose between platforms.
“MSI shares the Lucid multi-GPU vision of taking high performance graphics to the masses,” said LucidLogix Co-founder and President, Offir Remez. “By bringing Lucid and MSI to new market segments, it further solidifies our relationship and gives consumers freedom of choice.”
Designed with the PC gamer in mind, the HYDRA engine offers a flexible solution for performance hungry consumers who may wish to upgrade to multiple GPUs from a variety of vendors. This new approach provides interoperability among GPUs and chipsets, auto-correct load balancing and multiple GPUs that simultaneously process a single frame within a game, thus resolving bottlenecks and inter-frame dependencies prior to rendering.
ViXS highlights XCode 4200 family of smart network media processors
TAIPEI, TAIWAN & TORONTO, CANADA: ViXS Systems Inc., a leading provider of smart network multimedia processor solutions that enable a rich video entertainment experience is demonstrating many of its technologies at Computex 2010.
These include: Google Android, HD transcoding, dual HD decoding, 3D graphics, video post-processing and 3D TV. VIXS' XCode 4200(R) family will be featured, enabling an array of devices including: Blu-ray/PVR; multimedia; network-attached storage (NAS); and advanced set-top boxes.
You can experience the anytime anywhere entertainment in ViXS's suite, including:
* ViXS Android SDK - XCode 4200 Series Android platform.
* ViXS Blu-ray player - XCode 4200 Series Blu-ray player design.
* Home Gateway/Multimedia Network-Attached Storage (NAS) - XCode 4200 Series with Dual HD Decoding, 3D graphics, Transcoding, DLNA server with mobile support.
* 3D TV - XCode 4200 Series decoding and displaying 3D TV.
* USB HDX MEDIASTICK Transcoder - XCode 4105 transcoder reference design with mobile phone support.
* DLNA Video Networking/XCode 4115 - Dual HD transcoding and mobile phone support.
These include: Google Android, HD transcoding, dual HD decoding, 3D graphics, video post-processing and 3D TV. VIXS' XCode 4200(R) family will be featured, enabling an array of devices including: Blu-ray/PVR; multimedia; network-attached storage (NAS); and advanced set-top boxes.
You can experience the anytime anywhere entertainment in ViXS's suite, including:
* ViXS Android SDK - XCode 4200 Series Android platform.
* ViXS Blu-ray player - XCode 4200 Series Blu-ray player design.
* Home Gateway/Multimedia Network-Attached Storage (NAS) - XCode 4200 Series with Dual HD Decoding, 3D graphics, Transcoding, DLNA server with mobile support.
* 3D TV - XCode 4200 Series decoding and displaying 3D TV.
* USB HDX MEDIASTICK Transcoder - XCode 4105 transcoder reference design with mobile phone support.
* DLNA Video Networking/XCode 4115 - Dual HD transcoding and mobile phone support.
ViXS highlights XCode 4200 family of smart network media processors
TAIPEI, TAIWAN & TORONTO, CANADA: ViXS Systems Inc., a leading provider of smart network multimedia processor solutions that enable a rich video entertainment experience is demonstrating many of its technologies at Computex 2010.
These include: Google Android, HD transcoding, dual HD decoding, 3D graphics, video post-processing and 3D TV. VIXS' XCode 4200(R) family will be featured, enabling an array of devices including: Blu-ray/PVR; multimedia; network-attached storage (NAS); and advanced set-top boxes.
You can experience the anytime anywhere entertainment in ViXS's suite, including:
* ViXS Android SDK - XCode 4200 Series Android platform.
* ViXS Blu-ray player - XCode 4200 Series Blu-ray player design.
* Home Gateway/Multimedia Network-Attached Storage (NAS) - XCode 4200 Series with Dual HD Decoding, 3D graphics, Transcoding, DLNA server with mobile support.
* 3D TV - XCode 4200 Series decoding and displaying 3D TV.
* USB HDX MEDIASTICK Transcoder - XCode 4105 transcoder reference design with mobile phone support.
* DLNA Video Networking/XCode 4115 - Dual HD transcoding and mobile phone support.
These include: Google Android, HD transcoding, dual HD decoding, 3D graphics, video post-processing and 3D TV. VIXS' XCode 4200(R) family will be featured, enabling an array of devices including: Blu-ray/PVR; multimedia; network-attached storage (NAS); and advanced set-top boxes.
You can experience the anytime anywhere entertainment in ViXS's suite, including:
* ViXS Android SDK - XCode 4200 Series Android platform.
* ViXS Blu-ray player - XCode 4200 Series Blu-ray player design.
* Home Gateway/Multimedia Network-Attached Storage (NAS) - XCode 4200 Series with Dual HD Decoding, 3D graphics, Transcoding, DLNA server with mobile support.
* 3D TV - XCode 4200 Series decoding and displaying 3D TV.
* USB HDX MEDIASTICK Transcoder - XCode 4105 transcoder reference design with mobile phone support.
* DLNA Video Networking/XCode 4115 - Dual HD transcoding and mobile phone support.
Freescale, Atheros ally on high-performance solutions for enterprise Wi-Fi APs
2010 COMPUTEX TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Freescale Semiconductor and Atheros Communications, a leading developer of wired and wireless communication semiconductors, have collaborated on a production-ready reference design for high-performance and cost-effective Wi-Fi access points for enterprise offices and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs).
The collaboration is intended to reduce design complexity, lower bill of material costs and deliver high performance solutions to OEM customers building Wi-Fi access points and other 802.11n solutions. The reference design dissipates minimal power at high rates of performance, allowing for the development of multiple SKUs to address a wide range of system configuration requirements.
The solution leverages the industry leading performance of Freescale’s QorIQ P1020 system-on-chip (SoC) and Atheros’ 3-stream XSPAN chipset with Signal-Sustain Technology (SST3) to accelerate time to market for 802.11n access points capable of servicing corporate network environments.
Dual-band, dual-concurrent products based on this combination can deliver up to 600Mbps of actual throughput and greater wireless coverage to support a wide range of demanding enterprise and SMB applications that boost productivity and increase employee mobility.
Freescale and Atheros are showcasing the reference design at the Freescale Taipei office [Address: 6F, Unit 6, 66 San-Chong Road, Taipei 11560,Taiwan,ROC (Nangang Software Park)]
“Working closely with Atheros – a leading developer of WLAN and other connectivity semiconductor solutions – underscores Freescale’s leadership in a broad array of wireless communications equipment markets,” said Preet Virk, director of strategy for Freescale’s Networking Processor Division. “Our joint solution gives OEMs an industry-leading combination of dual-core performance and low-power operation in a reference design that is available today.”
Built on 45-nm process technology, Freescale’s QorIQ communications processors offer an ideal blend of multicore performance and high throughput within extremely constrained power budgets. The P1020 communications processor delivers 800MHz per core clock frequencies, resulting in efficient and fast data relays to wireless access points.
In addition, Freescale’s P1020 supports multiple high-speed serial interconnects such as SGMII and PCI Express, enabling the deployment of 802.11n chipsets with optimal module interfaces. The power efficient P1020 SoC also supports the implementation of Power over Ethernet (POE) designs in high performance Wi-Fi access points without sacrificing performance.
“Many enterprise customers are looking to upgrade their WLAN infrastructure with 3-stream 11n products that support more users and more demanding applications,” said Tony Hsu, senior director of marketing for Atheros’ Networking Business Unit.
“Combining our XSPAN solutions with Freescale’s P1020 processor enables 3x3 dual-band dual-concurrent capabilities within stringent power budgets. As a result, OEMs can quickly build products that meet the performance and reliability requirements of today’s enterprise networks.”
The collaboration is intended to reduce design complexity, lower bill of material costs and deliver high performance solutions to OEM customers building Wi-Fi access points and other 802.11n solutions. The reference design dissipates minimal power at high rates of performance, allowing for the development of multiple SKUs to address a wide range of system configuration requirements.
The solution leverages the industry leading performance of Freescale’s QorIQ P1020 system-on-chip (SoC) and Atheros’ 3-stream XSPAN chipset with Signal-Sustain Technology (SST3) to accelerate time to market for 802.11n access points capable of servicing corporate network environments.
Dual-band, dual-concurrent products based on this combination can deliver up to 600Mbps of actual throughput and greater wireless coverage to support a wide range of demanding enterprise and SMB applications that boost productivity and increase employee mobility.
Freescale and Atheros are showcasing the reference design at the Freescale Taipei office [Address: 6F, Unit 6, 66 San-Chong Road, Taipei 11560,Taiwan,ROC (Nangang Software Park)]
“Working closely with Atheros – a leading developer of WLAN and other connectivity semiconductor solutions – underscores Freescale’s leadership in a broad array of wireless communications equipment markets,” said Preet Virk, director of strategy for Freescale’s Networking Processor Division. “Our joint solution gives OEMs an industry-leading combination of dual-core performance and low-power operation in a reference design that is available today.”
Built on 45-nm process technology, Freescale’s QorIQ communications processors offer an ideal blend of multicore performance and high throughput within extremely constrained power budgets. The P1020 communications processor delivers 800MHz per core clock frequencies, resulting in efficient and fast data relays to wireless access points.
In addition, Freescale’s P1020 supports multiple high-speed serial interconnects such as SGMII and PCI Express, enabling the deployment of 802.11n chipsets with optimal module interfaces. The power efficient P1020 SoC also supports the implementation of Power over Ethernet (POE) designs in high performance Wi-Fi access points without sacrificing performance.
“Many enterprise customers are looking to upgrade their WLAN infrastructure with 3-stream 11n products that support more users and more demanding applications,” said Tony Hsu, senior director of marketing for Atheros’ Networking Business Unit.
“Combining our XSPAN solutions with Freescale’s P1020 processor enables 3x3 dual-band dual-concurrent capabilities within stringent power budgets. As a result, OEMs can quickly build products that meet the performance and reliability requirements of today’s enterprise networks.”
Vitesse expands Ethernet switch family for next-generation green enterprise and SMB/SME apps
2010 COMPUTEX TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., has announced the expansion of its SparX-III switch family (VSC7424, VSC7425, VSC7426, VSC7427), the industry’s first Gigabit Ethernet (GE) managed switch devices to integrate up to 12 copper PHYs.
The newest members of the SparX-III family enable industry-leading power savings, differentiated service delivery, and network security essential to next-generation Green Enterprise and SMB applications.
The SparX-III managed switches provide a rich set of Ethernet switching features such as Layer 2 forwarding with advanced VLAN and Quality of Service (QoS) processing. With an embedded CPU, the devices deliver up to 25-percent faster network management than competitive solutions targeted at Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) market.
When paired with Vitesse’s recently announced SimpliPHY 12-port PHYs (VSC8512, VSC8522), the SparX-III devices enable the industry’s first two chip, 26-port managed Layer 2 GE switch solution. Even the smallest member of the new family, VSC7424, is unique in the industry with eight integrated PHYs with two fiber ports, providing a single chip 10-port switch solution, particularly suitable for telecom access applications such as Passive Optical Network (PON).
The SparX-III family includes Vitesse’s EcoEthernet 2.0 technology, delivering unmatched energy efficiency with green features such as IEEE 802.3az idle power savings, ActiPHY automatic link power down, and PerfectReach intelligent cable algorithm. The devices also offer integrated fan control and intelligent LED control for further power savings.
In conjunction with Vitesse’s enhanced process technology, these features enable green switches with optimal power dissipation of 450mW/port in 1000 BASE-T mode and reduce power consumption in SME networks up to 50-percent.
SparX-III switches offer support for Audio-Video Bridging (AVB) standard providing time synchronization for streaming applications, better multicasting capability, and IPv6 MLDv1/2, a packet buffer memory architecture that eliminates latency, and a VCAP-II content-aware processor, allowing sophisticated QoS classification at wire speed. This makes the switch family ideal for gaming, IPTV and video transport applications.
The switches offer direct connectivity to SFP modules for both 1G and 100M applications using the SGMII/100FXSerDes ports. The SparX-III family additionally supports emerging QSGMII standards, allowing simpler board designs in which both switch and PHY blocks utilize less traces. These products complete a comprehensive portfolio of SME switching solutions that offer customers a variety of options in feature, bandwidth, and cost, providing higher return on their investments.
“The new SparX switches are flexible enough to use in Internet access devices, and customer-premises equipment on the network edge, in traditional chassis-based switches, or in Multiple Dwelling Unit/Multiple Tenant Unit access applications,” said Martin Olsen, product marketing manager at Vitesse. “Leveraging the energy efficiencies of EcoEthernet 2.0 and high degree of switch integration, our ODM and OEM customers can deliver cost-effective network equipment that meets the latest environmental standards.”
Samples of the VSC7424, VSC7425, VSC7426, and VSC7427 will be generally available in the third calendar quarter of 2010.
The newest members of the SparX-III family enable industry-leading power savings, differentiated service delivery, and network security essential to next-generation Green Enterprise and SMB applications.
The SparX-III managed switches provide a rich set of Ethernet switching features such as Layer 2 forwarding with advanced VLAN and Quality of Service (QoS) processing. With an embedded CPU, the devices deliver up to 25-percent faster network management than competitive solutions targeted at Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) market.
When paired with Vitesse’s recently announced SimpliPHY 12-port PHYs (VSC8512, VSC8522), the SparX-III devices enable the industry’s first two chip, 26-port managed Layer 2 GE switch solution. Even the smallest member of the new family, VSC7424, is unique in the industry with eight integrated PHYs with two fiber ports, providing a single chip 10-port switch solution, particularly suitable for telecom access applications such as Passive Optical Network (PON).
The SparX-III family includes Vitesse’s EcoEthernet 2.0 technology, delivering unmatched energy efficiency with green features such as IEEE 802.3az idle power savings, ActiPHY automatic link power down, and PerfectReach intelligent cable algorithm. The devices also offer integrated fan control and intelligent LED control for further power savings.
In conjunction with Vitesse’s enhanced process technology, these features enable green switches with optimal power dissipation of 450mW/port in 1000 BASE-T mode and reduce power consumption in SME networks up to 50-percent.
SparX-III switches offer support for Audio-Video Bridging (AVB) standard providing time synchronization for streaming applications, better multicasting capability, and IPv6 MLDv1/2, a packet buffer memory architecture that eliminates latency, and a VCAP-II content-aware processor, allowing sophisticated QoS classification at wire speed. This makes the switch family ideal for gaming, IPTV and video transport applications.
The switches offer direct connectivity to SFP modules for both 1G and 100M applications using the SGMII/100FXSerDes ports. The SparX-III family additionally supports emerging QSGMII standards, allowing simpler board designs in which both switch and PHY blocks utilize less traces. These products complete a comprehensive portfolio of SME switching solutions that offer customers a variety of options in feature, bandwidth, and cost, providing higher return on their investments.
“The new SparX switches are flexible enough to use in Internet access devices, and customer-premises equipment on the network edge, in traditional chassis-based switches, or in Multiple Dwelling Unit/Multiple Tenant Unit access applications,” said Martin Olsen, product marketing manager at Vitesse. “Leveraging the energy efficiencies of EcoEthernet 2.0 and high degree of switch integration, our ODM and OEM customers can deliver cost-effective network equipment that meets the latest environmental standards.”
Samples of the VSC7424, VSC7425, VSC7426, and VSC7427 will be generally available in the third calendar quarter of 2010.
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