January 28, 2002 - Consolidating its position as the leading provider of interface technology, National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM) today introduced a new high-performance, low-cost and power-saving Utopia-LVDS (low-voltage differential signaling) Bridge for telecom applications. Designed for broadband access equipment, ATM switches, 3G base stations and xDSL access-concentrators, this new single-chip solution provides a Utopia Bus Level 2 serializer/deserializer (SerDes) for transmitting data over LVDS links as long as 16 meters. As a result, telecom customers will be able to increase port density, minimize PCB space, reduce power consumption by 40 percent, and cut system data transfer costs in half.
"National's new Utopia-LVDS Bridge device increases port density and performance while reducing the per port cost of the system architecture, " said Stephen Kempainen, technical marketing manager of integrated LVDS telecom products at National Semiconductor. "This is the first in a family of bus controller chips that use National's LVDS serializer and deserializer technology to simplify the design of link protocol functions in telecom access systems. A quad Utopia Bridge and support for any-length packets will be the next chips to deliver high-quality, low-cost products to our customers."
Designed to carry the full bi-directional Utopia payload, National's new DS92UT16 Utopia-LVDS Bridge also transports flow control information, extended 64-byte cells, and an embedded communications channel across the LVDS link. Extended cell support, along with built-in address translation, enables the Bridge to address as many as 248 physical layer (PHY) ports for expanded functionality. Unique features, such as faster serial bit rates, support for high-density xDSL line cards, and built-in serialized reliability functions, make the DS92UT16 device an ideal, easy-to-use solution for telecom OEMs who are looking for the optimal combination of functionality, power and price.
The Utopia Level 2 bus is instrumental in many telecom access-concentrator systems. Because of its versatility, Utopia Level 2 serves in access systems with data rates from 1 Mbps to 622 Mbps. By 2003, the DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) semiconductor market is expected to reach over $530M. Some of the market drivers are the consumer demand for high-speed Internet access, new streaming audio/video applications, and integrated voice, video and data services.
The Utopia bus is the standard interface between asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) link and PHY devices. National's Utopia-LVDS Bridge simplifies the board interconnect between the PHY and the ATM layer devices by serializing and deserializing the 56-signal Utopia Level 2 bus. This allows two differential transmission lines to carry the bi-directional bus over a backplane or cable to another DS92UT16 transceiver to complete the Bridge. Providing the full 1.66 gigabits per second (Gbps) throughput, the DS92UT16 Utopia-LVDS Bridge extends the Utopia bus over a low power and low electro magnetic interference (EMI) LVDS interface.
Serializing the Utopia Level 2 bus minimizes backplane routing and cable skew problems between line cards and concentrator cards in telecom systems, resulting in dramatic board space savings and reduction in connector and cable sizes. These savings significantly decrease the total system cost. Serializing the Utopia bus also increases system reliability. The DS92UT16 features fully redundant main and standby serial connections, built-in-self-test (BIST), and performance monitoring capability. The performance monitoring serves to detect and report bit error rates during live traffic. Reliability also increases due to the reduced number of connectors and pins, which means fewer possible printed circuit board fault locations.
About Utopia
Utopia stands for Universal Test and Operations PHY Interface for ATM. The ATM-Forum Technical Committee specified the Utopia Level 2 bus in 1995 as a standard interface between ATM Layer (Data Link) and ATM PHY chips. The standard Level 2 bus accommodates data transfers of 622 Mbps. The Utopia Level 2 standard accommodates as many as 31 PHY devices (slaves) and one ATM Layer device (master).
Pricing, Packaging and Availability
National Semiconductor's DS92UT16 Utopia-LVDS Bridge is available for shipment in a 196-pin ball grid array (BGA) package and is priced at US$39.88 each in 1,000 units.
For more details on National's LVDS portfolio see LVDS.NATIONAL.COM.
About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor is the premier analog company driving the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of-the-art digital technology, the company is focused on the fast growing markets for wireless handsets; information appliances; information infrastructure; and display, imaging and human interface technologies. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2.1 billion for the last fiscal year and employs about 9,800 people worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.
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