Lattice Semiconductor Corp. announced announced that Sorrento Networks has selected Lattice's Quad Gigabit Ethernet-over-SONET/SDH system solution for deployment in Sorrento's access multiplexer family of products for moving Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) traffic over SONET/SDH and DWDM networks.
The complete solution consists of a high-performance ORCA 4 Series field programmable gate array (FPGA) and a Lattice proprietary intellectual property (IP) core.
Sorrento's GMGE4-2.5G module is a four-port, fractional and full-rate GbE multiplexer that seamlessly connects to a SONET/SDH network and enables extended GbE transport applications over metro and regional networks. The Lattice technology was the starting point for Sorrento's GbE solution, which includes interconnection to both
SONET/SDH and GbE networks, encapsulation of Ethernet frames into the
SONET/SDH format using the packet-over-SONET/SDH (PoS) methodology, ingress and egress packet buffering at each SONET/SDH to GbE interface, error checking, and three types of flow control across the fiber link and into the GbE network. The bridge is implemented in two ORCA Series 4 FPGAs.
Each Series 4 device handles two bi-directional GbE streams and performs two primary functions: translation between the Ethernet and the SONET networks, and flow control (backpressure mechanism) to ensure proper dataflow between the Ethernet network and the SONET network. The code programmed into each of the FPGAs is identical and performs all of the handshaking between the GbE devices and the SONET/SDH devices.
Also included in the FPGA core is the handling of rate mismatches between the GbE networks on opposite ends of the SONET/SDH fiber connection, control of the data buffering, flow control between the two GbE networks on opposite ends of the SONET/SDH fiber connection, and the optional discarding of errored packets received from the GbE MAC before transmission across the SONET/SDH fiber. Programmability provides users with the flexibility to introduce changes to their design quickly based on changing specifications and changes in customer requirements.
Sorrento's GigaMux is a metro and regional DWDM platform that transforms any fiber plant into a high-performance, multi-protocol transmission network with up to 64 times the transmission capacity. GigaMux is a compact, flexible, and cost-effective system based on a "pay-as-you-grow" architecture.
Working in conjunction with GigaMux is the EPC product family, consisting of sub-rate aggregation multiplexers that increase bandwidth use by combining a wide variety of traffic for transmission over a single wavelength, including Gigabit Ethernet, ESCON, Fast Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and SONET/SDH channels.
Sorrento Networks (San Diego, CA) is a supplier of intelligent optical networking solutions for metro and regional applications worldwide. The company's products support a wide range of protocols and network traffic over linear, ring and mesh topologies
Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (Hillsboro, OR) designs, develops and markets a broad range of high-performance ISP programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and field programmable system chip (FPSC) devices.