PMC-Sierra introduces industry's first public network compliant ATM physical layer solution; S UNI-155-PLUS also targets residential broadband ATM applications

Business Wire, Oct 2, 1995

GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 1995--Telecom '95--PMC-Sierra Inc. Monday announced the PM5347 S/UNI-155-PLUS, a new addition to the S/UNI family of ATM physical layer devices.

The S/UNI-155-PLUS is the industry's first ATM physical layer solution to specifically address the stringent Network Node Interface (NNI) requirements. The NNI specifies a superset of the requirements for the User Network Interface (UNI) and is used primarily as an interface between nodes within public ATM networks.

Multi-Channel 155 Mbit/s port cards for ATM edge and core network switches are key applications for the S/UNI-155-PLUS. In addition, the device supports Industrial Temperature Range operation, a critical requirement for outside plant equipment used in residential broadband applications such as head-end nodes and subscriber distribution nodes.

The S/UNI-155-PLUS is now available and packaged in a rectangular 208 pin 28x28 mm PQFP. The device will be fully tested in PMC-Sierra's broadband conformance lab for adherence to ATM Forum, ITU and Bellcore standards. Pricing for the PM5347-SI S/UNI-155-PLUS is $105.00 in high volume quantities.

"Most new ATM edge and core switch architectures utilize a 622 Mbit/s per port card switch fabric," said PMC-Sierra's marketing manager of WAN products, Glenn Bindley. "The 16 bit, 50 Mhz cell interface of the S/UNI-155-PLUS was designed to enable four 155 Mbit/s interfaces on a single card to seamlessly interface to a 622 Mbit/s switch port. The S/UNI-PLUS allows this new generation of switch architectures to take full advantage of their throughput capability," Bindley added.

"The S/UNI-155-PLUS deals with the difficult 155 Mbit/s analog interface to the optics and provides the NNI compliance features we need," said Kambiz Hooshmand, StrataCom's engineering director for broadband products. "The combination of these key features and our previous positive experience using other PMC-Sierra ATM PHY chips led us to choose the S/UNI-155-PLUS."

"There are a number of alternative architectures for residential broadband systems under development today. A common theme among these systems is the use of ATM based transport between the head-end nodes at the service provider's office and the subscriber distribution nodes located in neighborhood pedestals or vaults with no environmental controls," said Bindley.

"Support for the full suite of SONET/SDH overhead combined with support for industrial temperature operation make the S/UNI-155-PLUS an ideal fit for the central office head-end to distribution pedestal link in residential broadband systems," Bindley noted.

Key features of the S/UNI-155-PLUS include integrated clock recovery and synthesis, full access to all SONET/SDH overhead bytes - including the datacomm channels, integrated support for Automatic Protection Switching (APS), Section Trace, Path Trace, and Industrial Temperature Range operation.

The device supports an 8 or 16 bit, 50 MHz, Utopia compliant cell interface. The S/UNI-155-PLUS is also software compatible with PMC-Sierra's industry standard PM5346 S/UNI-155-Lite for 155 Mbit/s UNI applications and with the PM5355 S/UNI-622 for 622 Mbit/s applications. The S/UNI-155-PLUS utilizes a patented cell delineation algorithm under license from StrataCom Inc.

"The S/UNI-155-PLUS was developed in response to the needs of the SATURN Development Group," said PMC-Sierra's vice president of marketing and business development, Steve Perna. "The group's objective was to deliver a single chip NNI compliant 155 Mbit/s solution and the S/UNI-155-PLUS achieves that objective. Currently available alternatives either do not comply with NNI specifications or require extensive external logic to do so."

PMC-Sierra, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sierra Semiconductor, is a leader in networking component solutions emphasizing broadband ATM, SONET/SDH and T1/E1 applications. The company's quality system is registered with the Quality Management Institute to the ISO 9001 standard.

As co-founder of the SATURN Development Group, PMC-Sierra works with over 30 other member companies to define and develop interoperable, standards-compliant components for ATM-based applications. Headquartered near Vancouver, British Columbia, PMC-Sierra also offers local technical and sales support in Ontario, Massachusetts, California, Europe and Asia.

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Note to Editors: Product Photos available on request

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