Vitesse Drives Down Cost and Power Requirements of 10Gb/s Transmitter and Receiver Design

OC-192/STM-64 Mux/DeMux ICs deliver highest integration and FEC performance at 30% lower power and 50% lower cost than competing solutions

Camarillo, CA. Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:VTSS) today introduced the VSC8173 16:1 multiplexer and VSC8174 1:16 demultiplexer; a feature rich 10Gb/s chipset for OC-192 and STM-64 applications with the lowest power dissipation available today. The reduced power requirements minimizes heatsink, airflow, and power supply requirements, making the chipset ideal for telecommunication, dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), undersea transmission and test equipment. The chipset provides best in class performance, exceeding all relevant Bellcore and ITU-T jitter specifications. Both chips operate at the standard OC-192 rate of 9.953Gb/s and higher data rates (up to 10.66Gbs) to support FEC (Forward Error Correction) capability. This chipset is the culmination of many years of 10GHz design knowledge that provides designers with exceptional performance and value.

The VSC8173, 10Gb/s 16:1 multiplexer with clock multiplication unit (CMU) integrates a high-speed clock output to re-clock data at the laser driver. The clock output can also be used to verify jitter performance during operation, ensuring SONET compliance. In addition, the VSC8173 includes an input FIFO to decouple internal and external clocks, simplifying interface timing requirements on low speed input and providing improved jitter performance. The 622Mb/s parallel interface is fully compliant with the OIF99.102 requirements, including LVDS levels, insuring interoperability with other OIF compliant components. The companion chip, the VSC8174 is the demultiplexer that incorporates the clock and data recovery functions. The low 50mV input sensitivity of the VSC8174 decreases the overall system cost by increasing regenerator spacing by improving low-input signal response. The sampling position of the input data stream can be adjusted in voltage and phase allowing improved system performance. In order to simplify system design, two 622MHz clock outputs are provided. For additional flexibility, the VSC8174 incorporates a loss of signal (LOS) output alarm.

"The VSC8173 and VSC8174 chipset is just in time for the production ramp of the OC-192 market," stated Chris Gardner, VP and general manager of telecom products division. "The goal of these products is to offer a low-cost, feature-rich solution for our customers. These are the first parts manufactured using our proprietary H-GaAs-V process in the Colorado Springs 6" GaAs fabrication facility and we ve introduced them at half the price of any competing solution. By using our own highly manufacturable technology and industry-standard packaging, we are able to offer products today at a much lower cost than any competing alternatives," continued Gardner.

Both the VSC8173 and VSC8174 operate at the standard SONET line rates of 9.953Gb/s and 10.66Gb/s, allowing the use of forward error correction in the data transmission without changing devices or boards. Both ICs incorporate a bit order swap that allows the designer to interface to a device with either an increasing or decreasing bit order without crossing signal lines, also allowing for the quick recovery from circuit design errors. For added flexibility in system design, this chipset provides data polarity inversion. In addition, the chipset may be used in conjunction with Vitesse s VSC9116 OC-192 Transport Terminating Transceiver. The VSC9116 performs the section and line termination functions, monitors system performance of an STS-192 data transmission, and enhances the byte interleaving/ deinterleaving of the STS-48 datastream. When used in conjunction with any one of Vitesse s framer ICs, VSC9110, VSC9111, or VSC9112, STS-192 solutions are realized for aggregating STS-3, STS-12 and STS-48 data streams for SONET/ATM/Packet applications.

These 3.3V ICs are available in low-cost, industry standard 14mm 100 pin PQFP or 96 ball BGA packages. Both ICs are fully compliant with SONET/SDH specifications. Samples will be available in June 2000 with production scheduled for August 2000. This chipset, including the VSC8173 and VSC8174, is priced at $500 in quantities of 1000, half the cost of competing products available today.

Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation is the leading designer and supplier of innovative, high performance semiconductors utilizing state-of-the-art 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. The Company s products address the needs of Core, Access, Optical and Enterprise network equipment manufacturers who demand a combination of high speed, high complexity and low power dissipation. Vitesse is headquartered in Camarillo, California, and manufactures volume ICs at its two fabrication facilities in Camarillo and Colorado Springs. Company/product information can be found on the web at www.vitesse.com.

Contact:
Patricia Ito
Vitesse Semiconductor
(805) 388-3700
ito@vitesse.com

Caroline Melnicoff
CMC Public Relations
(650)324-8819
cmp1@earthlink.net