UMC and TrendChip partner to deliver Asia's first ADSL2+ solution

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, May 24, 2004

TrendChip Technologies Corporation, a broadband communication IC design company in Taiwan, and UMC, a semiconductor foundry (NYSE:UMC), have announced that TrendChip delivered the first ADSL2 solution in Asia using UMC's 0.18 micron process technology. The TC3162 ADSL2 chip, the second-generation product in TrendChip's xDSL family incorporates a high performance network processor and a Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT) digital signal processor (DSP), and is designed to address the cost and performance requirements of the ADSL2 customer premise equipment (CPE) market.

"Our new TC3162 SoC (System on Chip) is a breakthrough in the ADSL market, particularly as the TC3162 supports complete ADSL2 features with a powerful 200MHz RISC processor and the smallest form factor of 128-pin LQFP package," noted Shin-Jou Fang, CEO of TrendChip. "We needed a leading semiconductor foundry partner to help us ensure silicon success. As UMC has a proven track-record for manufacturing sophisticated products that target the communications market, they were an excellent choice for our production. The result is excellent foundry support and the ability to meet our volume requirements in time to maximize the success of the product."

The TC3162 chipset solution is the first SoC from an Asian-based company to be built on the next generation ADSL standard. As part of this solution, TrendChip is providing a reference modem, which is a complete Ethernet and USB combo router, with the option to integrate 802.11g WiFi turnkey capabilities including all of the hardware and software needed for bridge and router capabilities.

Henry Liu, senior vice president in charge of the New Business Development Group at UMC, said, "UMC continues to collaborate closely with its customers so that their products are successfully realized in UMC silicon in the shortest time possible. This type of cooperation has allowed us to deliver market-leading products for our customers that span a wide range of applications, including the new ADSL2 standard. We are pleased that our partnership with TrendChip has resulted in the production of their second-generation ADSL solution."

TrendChip's TC3162 samples and its combo router reference design are available now. For more information, please contact TrendChip and its representatives at service@trendchip.com.tw. TC3162 supports all key features in ADSL2 such as ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2 , and READSL (Reach Extended ADSL). It complies with ITU-T G.992.1, G.992.2, G.992.3, G.992.4, and G.992.5 with Annex A, B, I, and J capabilities.

TrendChip provides a total ADSL2 turnkey solution including the chipset (TC3162 and TC3084 highly integrated analog front end), software, and reference design. There are two versions in TC3162: TC3162L1 supports Ethernet and USB while TC3162P1 supports Ethernet, USB and PCI for WLAN integration to form a complete solution for ADSL2 residential gateway. TrendChip's broadband software solution features rich networking protocols used in ADSL modem and home gateway solution. Furthermore, TrendChip recently delivered the ADSL Pure Bridge software solution that provides the most cost competitive solution for large-scale deployment.

ADSL2 is the new standard approved by the ITU in January 2003. It is capable of up to 25Mbits/s downstream data rates. It also provides an optional mode that doubles the upstream bandwidth. These higher bandwidths allow Service Providers to provide the "Triple Play" (Voice, Data and Video) service to customers. In addition, ADSL2 provides better power management and remote network management; both are critical to large-scale deployment by Service Providers.