Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:VT SS) expands its crosspoint switch family with the introduction of what the company claims to be the industry's lowest power 36x36 and 68x68 crosspoint switches. Building on its expertise in the SONET/SDH arena, Vitesse designed Integrated Signal Equalization (ISE) capability into its crosspoint switches to eliminate the effects of Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) that can occur in applications that use long, narrow PCB traces to route the incoming signal, such as Clos switch fabrics used in Digital Cross-connect Systems (DCS).
The VSC837 and VSC838 incorporate novel, proprietary functionality called Integrated Signal Equalization (ISE) on every input to the switching matrix. This 'jitter eating' capability results in less output jitter when the incoming jitter is deterministic in nature. By reducing jitter, ISE facilitates the development of large three- or five-stage Clos switch fabrics by improving the multi-pass performance of the switch and eliminating the need for inter-stage retimers, thereby reducing the overall system cost.
To further enhance system level application, the VSC837 and VSC838 provide Input Signal Activity (ISA) monitoring to provide in-system diagnostics. Both switch matrices offer fully non-blocking operation with broadcast and multicast capabilities. The VSC837 68x68 -- a 3.2Gb/s crosspoint switch-- and the VSC838 -- a 36x36 3.2Gb/s crosspoint switch -- are ideal for designers of high speed applications such as SONET/SDH Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), SAN switches, HDTV/SDTV Serial Routing, Production, and Master Control Switchers, and Automatic Test Equipment (ATE).
The VSC837 and VSC838 provide low power dissipation, i.e., typical power dissipation for the VSC838 and the VSC837 is 6W and 11W, respectively. In addition, these devices integrate software and hardware power down capabilities to disable unused input and output channels. Both devices feature programmable output amplitude and have on-chip 50 Ohm back terminations that can be enabled or disabled to further reduce power consumption.
The VSC837 provides a multi-mode programming interface that allows programming commands to be sent as serial data, parallel data or BURST mode data. The VSC838's multi-mode programming interface allows programming commands to be sent as serial or parallel data. The high speed serial inputs are internally biased and provide on-die 100 Ohm line-to-line terminations for improved signal integrity and reduced PCB space requirements.
Both products are available in a high performance 37.5mm, 480 TBGA package. In quantities of 1,000 units, the VSC837 is priced at $769 each, while the VSC838 is priced at $325. Both devices are now available in production volumes.
About Vitesse:
Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation is the a designer and supplier of innovative, high performance semiconductors utilizing processes for the communications equipment manufacturers of next generation DWDM and optical networking, as well as storage area networking ICs and enclosure management products that monitor and communicate critical reliability and availability information. For more information, visit www.vitesse.com.