PMC-Sierra's QuadPHY 10GX SERDES demonstrates interoperability with Agilent on 10-Gigabit Ethernet and 10-Gigabit Fibre Channel evaluation kit

1 December 2003 Santa Clara, CA Lightwave -- PMC-Sierra Inc.'s PM2384-KIT QuadPHY 10GX successfully interoperates with Agilent Technologies' X2 1310-nm optical transceiver on the 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10-GbE) and 10-Gigabit Fibre Channel (10G FC) evaluation kit. The QuadPHY 10GX evaluation kit is a comprehensive PC-based evaluation and development platform supporting 10-GbE and 10G FC applications and interoperates with Agilent's X2 optical transceiver, providing design engineers with increased reliability, faster time-to-market, and reduced development costs.

"PMC-Sierra's collaboration with Agilent Technologies to deliver a 10-Gbit development platform to designers of Ethernet and Fibre Channel storage networks is focused on demonstrating the interoperability of 10-GbE and 10G FC components," explains Stuart Robinson, manager of product marketing and applications, Enterprise and Storage Division, at PMC-Sierra. "The combination of our QuadPHY 10GX evaluation kit and Agilent's X2 optical transceiver provides our customers with an off-the-shelf, compact, low-cost, power-efficient 10-Gbit/sec solution."

"Our X2 optical transceiver modules leverage Agilent's XENPAK technology to meet customers' cost, thermal, and EMI performance requirements," adds Antony Spilman, strategic marketing manager for Agilent's Fiber Optic Products Division. "Collaborating with PMC-Sierra on the successful interoperability of our X2 optical transceiver with their QuadPHY 10GX evaluation kit demonstrates how quickly this technology has matured, and it clearly proves the compactness and robustness of 10-Gbit/secoptical interfaces."

The QuadPHY 10GX and Agilent X2 module achieved continuous error-free operation over a wide range of environmental conditions when tested with the evaluation kit. The QuadPHY 10GX evaluation card houses the QuadPHY 10GX and an FPGA for generating 10-Gigabit Ethernet and 10-Gigabit Fibre Channel traffic. The evaluation kit incorporates a Tyco Electronics Z-PACK HM-Zd connector and an X2 MSA-compliant socket for X2 module interoperability testing. In addition, designers have the ability to exercise the entire range of QuadPHY 10GX and X2 module functionality from a Microsoft Windows GUI environment. The evaluation kit supports PMC-Sierra's PM8357 QuadPHY XR bi-directional XAUI retimer, which is ideal for LX4 and CX4 X2 module applications.

The PM2384-KIT QuadPHY 10GX evaluation kit is priced at $3,250 each. A comprehensive support package, including an evaluation kit board layout and design documentation, FPGA VHDL source code, configuration scripts, application notes and user manual, is also available.