Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. recently announced the sampling of the 16- and
24-port Gigabit Ethernet Switches with eight integrated PHYs and an embedded
V-Core™ processor. The innovative integration provides OEMs and ODMs a feature
rich, System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solution that not only reduces the number of
required active components in their existing web-managed smart switch systems
designs, but continues to make good on the promises of next-generation security,
Quality of Service (QoS).
The delivery of the 16-port SparX-G16 and the 24-port SparX-G24 devices marks
the next-step in the on-going evolution of fully integrated, Layer 2 Gigabit
Ethernet switch IC and SoC solutions pioneered by Vitesse. As with other Vitesse
SoCs already in full production, they deliver advanced QoS features such as
Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) remarking, which permits enterprise
network managers and service providers to more accurately manage the priority of
traffic based on service agreements with their customers. This functionality
also decreases the threat of internal and external security breaches through
packet filtering based on Source IP, ARP, and TCP/UDP filters; In addition, the
devices offer flexible and configurable rate shaping for both ingress and egress
directions to enable enforcement of pre-negotiated bandwidth levels; and up to
8K IP Multicast group entries for applications such as video distribution.
Packing a versatility punch to go along with their sophisticated
capabilities, the SparX™ devices perform equally well in applications for the
Small Office Home Office (SOHO), Small-Medium Business (SMB), and Small-Medium
Enterprise (SME) desktop switches, as well as consumer wireless and DSL
broadband routers.
The value-added features, such as packet filtering, fine granularity rate
shaping, rich entries of IP Multicast and processor-based address learning,
providr OEMs and ODMs with advanced features without requiring a costly jump to
enterprise class silicon. This is achieved through the on-chip V-Core processor
which reduces the per instruction clock cycles from 12 to 4 compared with a
traditional 8051 processor. This, in turn, eliminates the need for an external
CPU altogether.
To illustrate the board and cost savings achieved when using the integrated
switch-plus-copper-PHY technology of the SparX devices, an engineer developing a
24-port design that would traditionally require a seven or eight chip solution
along with additional power and ground plane provisions, would only need one
SparX-G24 IC and two Vitesse Octal PHYs to deliver the same design.
“Twice this year, Vitesse has delivered technologically advanced Gigabit
Ethernet Switch System IC solutions to support the evolving requirements of the
industry’s leading OEMs and ODMs. First with the fully integrated 5- and
8-port Gigabit Ethernet Switch ICs, and now with the world’s first 16-and
24-port devices with integrated Octal PHYs, ” said Claus Stetter, SparX
product line director for Vitesse’s Ethernet Products Division. “The
sampling of these Switch SoCs cements Vitesse’s leadership in the fastest
growing switch segment: Gigabit Smart Switch for the Small and Medium Business
and Enterprise markets.”
Functionality That Matters Most to the SOHO, SMB, and SME Markets:
The SparX devices offer unmatched, sophisticated QoS features, including four
queues per port with per-queue traffic shaping and policing, IPv4 and IPv6
classification capabilities, and the ability to carry consumer-quality VoIP.
Other features include 802.1x authentication, Layer 2 through Layer 4 link
aggregation, and VLAN support, including Q-in-Q double VLAN tagging, and
wire-speed MAC address learning.
Additionally, these devices include all keystone features and benefits of the
SparX series of single-chip SoCs such as:
- Very low power requirements: Less than 600 mW per port. Each integrated
10/100/1000 BASE-T PHY and Switch port dissipates approximately 25% less
power overall than the competition’s multi-chip solutions.
- Reduction in the number of voltage supply rails to only two (half of what
competitive solutions require). This dramatically lowers the cost for the
system power supply circuitry and enables the use of fewer PCB layers in the
design overall.
- Elimination of the need for external CPUs and memory through the
integration of Octal PHYs, switch fabric, MACs, buffer memory, and 8051
compatible processor. This achieves a 50% component reduction over competing
solutions. It simplifies designs and reduces product time-to-market.
Availability and Pricing: Currently sampling to customers worldwide, the
VSC7389 (16-port) and VSC7390 (24-port) Switch SoCs are available in low cost,
PBGA (plastic ball grid array) packaging. Budgetary volume pricing is $48 USD
for the 16-port device and $64 USD for the 24-port.
About Vitesse: Vitesse designs, develops and markets a diverse portfolio of
high-performance, cost-competitive semiconductor solutions for communications
and storage networks worldwide. Engineering excellence and dedicated customer
service distinguish Vitesse as an industry leader in Gigabit Ethernet LAN,
Ethernet-over-SONET, Advanced Switching, Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI,
Optical Transport, and other applications. Vitesse innovation empowers customers
to deliver superior products for Enterprise, Access, Metro, and Core
applications. Additional company and product information is available at
www.vitesse.com.
