Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Agere Systems | Subject: ET1310 and ET1011
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 04 June 2004
Interfaces speed next-generation PC
connection
Agere Systems has released two new products to address the Gigabit Ethernet PC I/O market.
Agere Systems has released two new products to address the Gigabit Ethernet PC I/O market The ET1310 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller and the 68-pin MLCC-packaged version of the proven ET1011 single port Gigabit Ethernet PHY device were introduced this week at Computex Taipei, the world's largest personal computer manufacturing exhibition
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Mar 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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Both devices are based on Agere's patented TruePHY technology.
"The PC marketplace can rely on Agere for very high quality, future-proof products with all the right features, and at the right price", said Brendan O'Flaherty, Director of Marketing for Agere's Ethernet division.
"The ET1310 and ET1011 bring PC OEMs and ODMs native PCI Express plus significantly lower power consumption, far better packaging and better design-in and software driver support".
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Agere's new network interface card/LAN-on-motherboard (NIC/LOM) offerings come to market ahead of several changes in the personal computing market: the transition from Fast Ethernet to Gigabit Ethernet, the migration to PCI Express and the emergence of 64bit CPUs for the mainstream desktop computing market.
Market research firm IDC estimates that more than 80 million Gigabit Ethernet PC system ports will ship in 2005.
Tier one global PC OEMs today have made Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Mbit/s connectivity the de facto standard in new PCs for both business platforms and consumer platforms.
Executives from the world's two largest PC microprocessor vendors commented on the fact that Agere is bringing these important new technologies to market: "PCI Express gives computer OEMs and the buyers they serve much higher performance, as you would expect with the jump to serial I/O", said Jim Pappas, Director of Initiative Marketing for Intel's Enterprise Platform Group.
"For us, this first wave of native PCI Express controllers indicates exactly the kind of momentum and innovation that the industry envisioned when it first began to develop the specification".
"As PCI Express continues to gain momentum, Agere's ET1310 Gigabit Ethernet controller will be an excellent complement to the AMD Athlon 64 processor's HyperTransport technology", said John Morris, Manager of Desktop Product Marketing, AMD's Computation Products Group.
"AMD's innovative Direct Connect Architecture coupled with the excellent performance from Agere's new low-power Gigabit Ethernet controller should make for exciting times for OEMs and PC users alike".
In addition to built-in TruePHY GbE, the ET1310 is designed specifically for the high-throughput, low-latency capabilities of PCI Express.
These enhanced capabilities allow for optimal on-chip memory size and utilisation, which translates to significant power savings.
The ET1310 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller is expected to be the lowest power controller available to builders of 2005 PCs.
The ET1310 also supports many of the most advanced capabilities of PCI Express, including active state power management, advanced error reporting, relaxed ordering rules in the split transaction interface and multiple traffic classes.
Comprehensive software support is bundled with the ET1310, including cable diagnostic tools, manufacturing test utilities and internationalised software drivers for Microsoft Windows XP, 2000, 98 and Me, NDIS 6.0 (Longhorn) and Linux 2.2 and 2.4.
The new standalone TruePHY ET1011 with PC-ready RGMII and RTBI interfaces in a compact, 10 x 10 x 1mm, 68-pin MLCC package is sampling today.
The ET1310 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller uses the same 68-pin MLCC package and will be sampling in the third quarter of 2004.
Agere's MLCC package is a leadless design that provides a small footprint and eliminates bent pins, allowing for better manufacturing yield.
The ET1310 requires routing of only 12 signal traces between the device and the core logic chipset, significantly simplifying four-layer motherboard designs relative to the PCI-based devices offered by Agere's competitors.
The high thermal efficiency of the ET1310 MLCC package supports operation in ambient temperatures of up to 85C without requiring heatsinks or active airflow, providing the highest level of flexibility in physical placement in space constrained applications such as mobile platforms and small form factor PCs, and broad application in extended temperature segments.
Both devices will be delivered to manufacturers with the Agere mark for high quality and fully audited validation and testing.
Additionally, both devices support standard as well as lead (Pb)-free package options, supporting the industry's ongoing transition to Pb-free electronic packaging.
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