Conexant Introduces ADSL Modem Chipset with USB

Electronic News, July 10, 2000 by Jayant Mathew

Conexant Systems Inc. today will introduce its AccessRunner family of broadband ADSL modem chipsets that offer bus-powered USB support, which the company said will eliminate the need for an external power supply and provide a reduced-cost solution. Conexant said its USB-ADSL offering supports the full range of ADSL standards. Manufacturers can create a cost-effective USB-ADSL modem enabling up to 8 Mbit/sec. Internet access over regular telephone lines, without the need for an external power supply using its chipset, according to the company. It supports the 1.5Mbit/sec. G.lite standard, ensuring that AccessRunner can address the existing installed base of full-rate ADSL lines as well as the future deployment of both full-rate and splitterless ADSL services. Conexant said that with the addition of USB support, consumers will now be able to plug AccessRunner-based modem products directly into a desktop or notebook PC's USB port without having to open their PCs, install adapter cards or worry about which serial port or interrupt request (IRQ) to use. The company said that the AccessRunner solution supports full-rate ANSI T1.413 Issue 2, and ITU G.dmt (G.992.1). The AccessRunner chipset's architecture optimizes performance and cost by using the PC to perform asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) protocol functions in software, the company said. ATM protocol support is provided through a software-based ATM Segmentation and Reassembly (SAR) solution that implements ATM Adaptation Layer Type 5 (AAL5) over ADSL. And WAN-mode support is provided through industry-standard point-to-point protocol, while LAN-mode functions are supported in compliance with the industry-standard RFC1483 specification. The AccessRunner solution includes a discrete multitone (DMT)-based data pump, a USB controller, an analog front-end (AFE) and a line driver. The ADSL DMT data pump and USB controller are each packaged in a 176-pin thin quad flat pack (TQFP), and the AFE and line driver are each packaged in a 32-pin TQFP. Conexant's USB AccessRunner solution is available now and is priced at $45 each in quantities of 10,000.

Kentron Technologies Unveils 1GB DDR Module

Kentron Technologies last week unveiled a 1Gbyte registered double data rate (DDR) module that the company said is based on its Foldable Electronic Memory Module Assembly (FEMMA) technology. Kentron said the 1.5-inch, 184-pin registered DDR DIMM module meets all PC2100/2600 JEDEC standard specifications. Kentron said the module is also designed and simulated to run on a 100MHz/133MHz clock and that it doubles the data rate transfer to 200Mbit/sec./266Mbit/sec. The module's 1.5-inch height provides the marketplace with a solution for those products requiring low-profile DIMMs, the company said. According to Kentron, the 1Gbyte FEMMA DDR module incorporates characteristics that have been well recognized by the industry and its governing bodies. The company said the module is a cost-effective solution that achieves the highest densities and the best thermal properties. FEMMA is a patented, nonstacking technology, adaptable to current DDR chip packaging technology (TSSOPII) as well as the upcoming BGA, the company said. The FEMMA technology has been tested and qualified on various motherboards running chipsets, the company said. The 1Gbyte FEMMA DDR module will be available for sampling in the third quarter.

Lucent Technologies to Ship FPGA in the 3Q

Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group last week said it will introduce its ORCA Series 4 FPGA IC technology in the third quarter of this year. The Allentown, Pa.-based company said ORCA 4, based on COM2 modular 0.13-micron system-on-a-chip (SOC) fabrication technology, more than triples operating speed and gate density over previous-generation devices. The new technology allows engineers to embed field-programmable logic blocks into communications SOCs that are deployed as ASICs or application-specific standard products (ASSPs). Lucent said it will deploy ORCA 4 in generic FPGA devices, embedded programmable blocks in SOCs, and in the company's field-programmable system chips (FPSCs). FPSCs are FPGA devices integrated with a standard-cell core. The FPGA version, OR4E6, is a 600,000-gate networking FPGA designed to hold intellectual property (IP) such as Lucent's 32-channel, 32-group inverse multiplexing for asynchronous transfer mode core and the ORT8850H/L devices. The FPSCs will have Lucent's 850Mbit/sec. clock/data recovery core and either 600,000 or 200,000 programmable system gates for customer IP. "The technology supports second-generation FPGA integration capability by embedding field-programmable blocks in ASICs and ASSPs, and it enhances the first-generation hybrid standard-cell/FPGA approach we pioneered with ORCA Series 3 FPSCs. It also gives our generic FPGAs the ability to support even more demanding IP," said Samir Samhouri, Lucent's general manager of IP solutions. ORCA Series 4 includes support for more than 1.5 million usable system gates on a single chip, an internal performance of more than 200MHz and I/O performance of more than 416MHz operating at 1.5V with support for multiple I/O interface standards at 3.3V, 2.5V and 1.8V. Samhouri said the technology allows systems manufacturers to preserve circuit designs using the same IP cores across product life cycles in prototypes for faster development, earlier production runs and quicker introduction. The OR4E6 and the ORT8850H will be priced at $300 and $350 each, respectively, in quantities of 10,000. The ORT8850L is slated to be available in the fourth quarter at $75 each in quantities of 10,000.