June 9, 2004 Fremont, CA -- Broadband access solutions provider Centillium Communications Inc. has unveiled its full line of optical access solutions for the burgeoning Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) market.
The growing proliferation of bandwidth-hungry applications is driving demand for carrier-class, broadband access solutions capable of delivering next-generation integrated voice, data, and video services. This increase in demand is no longer a simple debate over dial-up versus always-on Internet access, or an issue of DSL versus cable modems. End users have now become savvy owners of small residential networks with multiple family members (or co-workers in a SOHO situation) competing for Internet access; throughput is often an issue.
Passive Optical Networks (PONs), based on either the Ethernet protocol (known as EPON) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode protocol (known as BPON), offer service providers robust network architectures that not only break the current bandwidth/distance paradigm but deliver true, triple-play services to customer premises at nearly symmetrical speeds and at more than 100 times those of DSL and cable modems.
"By leveraging our expertise in mixed-signal, System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solutions for high-speed broadband access, Centillium has developed a complete line of silicon products for the FTTP market that offers unparalleled levels of integration, innovation, and economics," contends Armando Pereira, general manager of Centillium's Optical Business Unit. "As system designers and service providers architect, develop, and deploy Passive Optical Networks, Centillium is well positioned to supply innovative solutions to power this next generation of optical access equipment."
"There are three critical factors that will enable a strong global PON market-- interoperability, how fast equipment can come to market, and the ultimate cost of equipment," adds Steve Rago, principal analyst, Networking and Optical Practice, for industry research firm iSuppli. "With their high levels of integration, Centillium's Colt and Mustang protocol processors provide OEMs with the building blocks needed to address these issues. When you add the Zeus transceiver chips and their VoIP-enabled Unicorn broadband services processor to the mix, we believe that Centillium offers the most complete end-to-end solution for PON CO and CPE."
Centillium's first line of PON solutions--based on the new IEEE 802.3ah standard--offers equipment designers higher integration, broader functionality, smaller footprints, and lower power consumption than existing chipsets for both central office (CO) and customer premises equipment (CPE), say company representatives. Initially comprised of four product families, Centillium's EPON product line includes the COLT Optical Line Termination (OLT) family of mixed-signal EPON protocol processors for the CO; the Mustang Optical Network Unit (ONU) family of mixed-signal EPON protocol processors for CPE; the Unicorn Broadband Service Processor family of high-functionality VoIP, bridge/routing, and security processors for residential gateway applications; and the Zeus Transceiver family of optical burst-mode chipsets for both the CO and CPE.
COLT OLT Family
The first member of Centillium's COLT family, COLT 100 (CT-TPSMT02) is a highly-integrated, mixed-signal protocol processor solution that combines a bridge, SerDes/burst mode CDR, CAM, and MIPS CPU core into a single, SoC solution for OLT applications. COLT resides in a line card at the service provider's central office and directs the traffic to multiple ONUs.
Mustang ONU Family
Designed to operate at the customer premises, Centillium's first-generation optical CPE solution, the Mustang 100 (CT-TPSMN02) is an integrated, mixed-signal protocol processor that offers a complementary set of features to Centillium's COLT processor or any other IEEE 802.3ah standards-compliant, third-party OLT processor. Mustang 100 includes a bridge, SerDes/CDR, SRAM and a MIPS CPU core into a single, SoC solution for ONU applications.
Unicorn Broadband Service Processor Family
The company's Unicorn family of Broadband Services Processors provides a value-add option for carriers looking to deploy advanced broadband services, such as VoIP and security, in a home gateway. The family's first offering, Unicorn 100 (CT-TNNMN01-TP), combines a network processor, a powerful DSP voice engine and Internet Protocol Security with a host of physical interfaces to support services such as Internet telephony (VoIP), Virtual Private Networks, and even 802.11a/b/g wireless networking via an additional PCMCIA card.
Zeus Transceiver Family
Designed to control bi-directional burst-mode traffic on a fiber cable on both the CO and CPE sides, the Zeus Transceiver family targets both EPON and BPON applications. Consisting of a transceiver chip (CT-TPPMT12 for BPON and CT-TPPMT01 for EPON) on the CO side and a transceiver chip (CT-TPPMN12 for BPON and CT-TPPMN01 for EPON) on the CPE side, the Zeus family complies with IEEE 802.3ah, ITU-T 983, and SFF-8472 specifications for optical transceivers.
Centillium's line of PON solutions is scheduled to begin sampling in Q3 of 2004.