SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 -- Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. has announced availability of its 11.5-Gbps 144x144 crosspoint switch that enables 40% bandwidth improvement in switches used in carrier and enterprise networking environments.
The device features Vitesse's signal integrity technology, FlexEQ, which allows transmission and signal recovery of high-speed signals over lossy printed circuit boards, backplanes, and cable media. The company says its VSC3144-11 is the industry's only commercially available, high-channel device to support switching of new data rates and interfaces including 8G Fibre Channel, 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE), and XFI (transitioning from 4G Fibre Channel, GbE, and XAUI).
The crosspoint features a nonblocking switch matrix that delivers 1.656-Tbps switching capacity. Compatible with the previously announced 6.5G and 8.5G versions, the VSC3144-11 enables a migration path for existing customers as they upgrade network routers and data center crossconnect systems to higher capacity and bandwidth levels. Used together, the crosspoints enable low-latency, fully nonblocking switching capability on line cards and switch cards that are pervasive in core, metro, and enterprise environments.
Vitesse brought to market the VSC3144-11 to address the convergence around 10 Gbps in telecommunications, enterprise, and storage networks. The device supports a frequency range up to 11.5 Gbps, encompassing virtually all data protocols, including GbE, XAUI, Reduced XAUI (RXAUI), 10GbE, SONET/SDH, and OTN protocols, InfiniBand, and emerging services such as 8G Fibre Channel. Vitesse is focused on meeting the need for a new class of transport gear targeted to next-generation higher rates such as:
- 9.95328-Gbps OC-192/STM-64 SONET/SDH
- 10.709-Gbps OTU2 OTN/WDM
- 10.3125-Gbps 10GbE
- 10.51875-Gbps Fibre Channel (10GFC)
- 11.1- to 11.3-Gbps overclocked OTU2 wrappers (for 10GbE and 10GFC over OTN/WDM)
In addition, emerging IEEE and ITU-T standards for 40G and 100G data rates include 4x10G and 10x10G interfaces, exacerbating the need for large asynchronous switching matrices at 10G data rates.
"There is a fundamental shift underway across carrier and physical layer interconnects. Across the board, 10G is seen as a convergence point across multiple protocols. New signal integrity challenges come into play at these speeds, and Vitesse is uniquely positioned to help customers overcome these barriers," claims Juan Garza, product marketing manager at Vitesse. "Coupled with backwards compatibility to previous-generation crosspoints for central switches and new offerings for line cards, Vitesse is delivering a comprehensive migration path sure to take our customers to this new networking paradigm."
The VSC3144-11 is footprint compatible to Vitesse's previous generation of devices, allowing a pin-compatible speed upgrade path for customers using the Vitesse 4.25G VSC3140, 6.5G VSC3144, and 8.5G VSC3144-08. Other features of the new device include:
- DC-to-11.5-Gbps fully differential signal paths with protocol-independent operation
- adjustable input signal equalization with per-channel and global control
- adjustable output pre-emphasis with per-channel and global control
- 21-W power consumption
- ability to power-down unused channels for applications needing only a subset of channels
The VSC3144-11 is offered in a 45x45-mm, 1.27-mm pin pitch, 1,072-pin BGA package. Evaluation systems, samples, and preproduction volumes are available now, with production status expected in the 4Q09. Pricing is available upon request.
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