FEBRUARY 8, 2007 -- Centillium Communications Inc. (search for Centillium) has released the Mustang 300 system-on-chip (SoC) for GEPON ONUs. The device complements the company's Colt OLT chip, giving Centillium an end-to-end product offering for FTTH networks. The device also can be paired with Centillium's VDSL chips to support fiber-to-the-building applications in which GEPON is used to reach the basement of an MDU/MTU and service is brought to individual units via VDSL links.
OFN, a Japanese FTTH system house, is among the first customers for the new chip. "OFN collaborates with Centillium in the development of its Mustang 300 system-on-chip because it enables the delivery of triple-play services by harnessing the power of EPON technology at the highest quality of service," said Takao Tashiro, director of technology planning at OFN. "Mustang 300 delivers the flexibility we need, coupled with a robust feature set on a single chip that leads to lower cost, greater performance, and a quicker time to market."
The Mustang SoC supports traffic management, classification, and filtering for up to 256 multicast groups and up to eight different service types, which Centillium asserts is the highest in the industry. The device integrates all packet buffer and program memories in a 17x17-mm 256-pin LBGA package. The MIPS processor has 192 kB of memory; 1 MB of internal packet buffer memory is included as well. The chip dissipates 1.4 W and operates over a temperature range of 0 to 70 degrees C.
The integrated device reduces the ONU bill of materials (BOM) to five components: optical transceiver, Gigabit PHY, FLASH, power supply, and the Mustang 300.
"The next-generation Mustang, combined with Centillium's Colt Optical Line Terminal (OLT) SoC and Zeus 2 burst-mode transceiver strengthen the company's market position as the only silicon vendor with complete, end-to-end EPON solutions for the 'last mile,'" says Didier Boivin, vice president of marketing for Centillium. "Furthermore, by integrating these optical SoCs with the award-winning Arion VDSL2 and Atlanta VoIP technologies, our solutions help system vendors and service providers reduce costs and operational complexities and achieve rapid time to value."
The Mustang 300 is designed to simplify service-provider deployments by being fully interoperable with a variety of systems and supporting a full range of protocols and relevant standards including IEEE 802.3ah to ensure error-free, low-latency, bandwidth-efficient data transmission via EPONs. The chips' software package and API are designed to be used "right out of the box" to build a complete ONU. This alleviates the need for systems vendors to develop customized software, leading to significantly lower development cost and an accelerated time to market, the company says.
The Mustang 300 is available now.