RFIC targets FTTH market

October 10, 2005 Santa Rosa, CA -- TriAccess Technologies, a fables semiconductor company, has introduced a line of high-sensitivity radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) designed for use in FTTH applications. Samples of the company's FTTH 6200 series RFIC are available, with volume shipments are expected in the first half of 2006.

"As the telecom and cable TV industries compete for consumers' 'triple play' business, a clash of major proportions is creating a great opportunity for well-positioned equipment vendors to sell products tailored for FTTH, cable hybrid fiber coax, and WiMax systems," contends Chris Day, president and CTO of TriAccess Technologies. "Our new FTTH products dramatically reduce costs in the optical network terminal (ONT), the interface box on the side of the house."

The company says its TriAccess family of IC devices is designed to reduce unwanted noise in the ONT to as low as 2.5pA/rtHz level (2.5 picoamps per root Hertz). In contrast, according to the company, competitive platforms can add as much as 5.0pA/rtHz and above, and can be difficult to manufacture. The company claims to have filed patents on its high sensitivity technology, which it says allows noise improvement without degradation in other performance areas, such as distortion.

"The quality and volume of information you can send through a network depends on performance, rate, reach and cost factors," adds Day. "By enhancing RF hardware, you can lower the capital cost to deliver broadband services. Our products improve network performance by cutting the noise in half, compared to current competitive solutions. This allows carriers to reach more customers at less cost."

In FTTH applications, the company says its products can reduce the cost of the ONT by up to $20, while increasing the effective range of optical signals from four-to-six additional kilometers beyond the range of competitive systems.

"There are several applications for our products beyond FTTH. For example, one device under development is intended to double the number of users that can share Gigabit passive optical networks (GPONs)," says Brian Bauer, vice president of marketing for TriAccess. "With today's preferred telco video delivery system, RF overlay, our solution enables a 64-way split to accommodate users connected to an optical line terminal (OLT) port at the serving central office - whereas today only 32 users can share such a port. Our future plan also includes products to alleviate the cable TV return path bottleneck, and RF power amplifiers for emerging wireless applications where signal clarity and power efficiency are critical in reducing capital and operating costs."