Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Agere Systems | Subject: ET3K and TruePHY 1081
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 03 May 2005
Economical management cuts GbE port
costs
A new Gigabit Ethernet chip solution for switches offers 10 times the performance in bandwidth and speed delivering voice, video and data traffic compared with currently deployed switching equipment.
Agere Systems has announced a Gigabit Ethernet chip solution for switches that offers 10 times the performance in bandwidth and speed delivering voice, video and data traffic compared with currently deployed switching equipment, in a huge number of business networks globally - at a fraction of the cost This massive performance improvement at much lower prices transforms today's unmanaged data networks into much more intelligent, multimedia-rich converged infrastructure
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Mar 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The improvement in performance and cost is likely to cause the avalanche migration from Fast Ethernet (10/100 megabits per second) networks to Gigabit Ethernet across virtually all business applications.
Furthermore, this solution is the catalyst for a profound change in the way companies run their businesses going forward, how effectively they compete, and how productive and efficient they can become.
Taiwan-based Accton Technology Corp has selected Agere's new chip solution, available now, for use in Accton's Ethernet switching products the company manufactures and sells to retail stores and distributors.
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This significant performance improvement will have widespread repercussions in networks within businesses worldwide.
For example, current networks are unable to distinguish between voice, video and data Internet Protocol (IP) traffic.
This forces the businesses to have dedicated and separate data and voice networks.
The new Agere chip solution introduces the required intelligence to dynamically recognise these services, which enables the convergence of these services onto a single, reliable and efficient multimedia-aware infrastructure.
In essence, this solution will be a catalyst in rapidly accelerating the speed at which IP telephones replace traditional private branch exchange phones in businesses.
Secondly, this convergence eliminates the need to operate and maintain costly, wire-intensive, and technology-diverse and complex networks.
For example, moves, adds, changes of employee equipment within corporate networks, which are time-consuming and very costly, become transparent to the end users, increasing their mobility.
This translates to higher productivity and better customer responsiveness.
Third, this new solution raises the bar in the industry because it delivers the only 48-port Gigabit Ethernet device, which delivers traffic up to 1000Mbit/s (wire-speed deterministic performance) for each end user.
This makes possible virtual desktop and workspace sharing applications, and the ability to seamlessly store and restore important data across the business, which is key for business continuity and disaster recovery.
Agere's chip is the world's fastest, highest capacity and most integrated Gigabit Ethernet chip solution.
The Economically Managed Switch (EMS) solution allows for an extremely low-cost entry, which accelerates the convergence of voice, data and video services onto a single network infrastructure at double the port (channel) density and speed of any competing single-chip offerings.
The solution offers simple-to-use, yet powerful, management capabilities, while maintaining an "unmanaged"-like price per port.
Agere's new SoC creates an EMS Ethernet solution that delivers the required intelligence for multimedia convergence at a fraction of the cost of fully featured and fully managed switches.
Accton has selected Agere's new Ethernet silicon solutions for use within Accton's new Gigabit Ethernet Lightly (EMS) and Fully Managed Switch (FMS).
The low cost of integration and reduced number of components required in the Agere solution make the overall switch cost extremely cost effective.
The EMS solution consists of a new state-of-the-art switch family called ET3K and the first-to-market Agere octal TruePHY 1081 - both of which are available in production quantities now.
The EMS market includes Ethernet web-managed/smart switches used in small- to medium-size businesses (SMB).
Using Agere's solution, an information technology manager can future-proof his network and reduce current capital and operational expenses by more than 40%.
Agere's EMS solution complements the world's highest integration Gigabit Ethernet FMS solution for the enterprise market introduced six months ago.
Agere is the only company with a single-chip, 48-port solution and a working octal PHY solution in either market segment.
Consequently, Agere's 48-port Gigabit Ethernet solution is the only one in production requiring seven chips, whereas any other competing solution needs 14 chips today.
"Agere's new Ethernet solution spawns a ripple effect of lowest area and power solution resulting in cost reductions to such attractive levels that it's becoming an easy decision for businesses to convert to Gigabit Ethernet networks", said Samuel Chang, Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Accton Technology Corp.
"In addition, it provides information technology managers with simple-to-use yet powerful management capabilities at Layer 2 to Layer 4, while maintaining 'unmanaged'-like price per port".
"IT managers can now make the jump to gigabit speeds with intelligence priced similar to unmanaged switches", said Charlie Kawwas, Director of Product Marketing with Agere Systems.
"This new Agere solution enables this shift from unmanaged switches to Gigabit EMS switches at Agere's low entry-priced silicon solution, to gain convergence and manageability".
"The key breakthrough with this solution is that it delivers the required functionality in a true system-on-a-chip that sets new cost benefits in the industry".
"As a result, it makes sense for small- to medium-size businesses to converge their networks and transition to Gigabit Ethernet speeds faster".
The solution builds on Agere's growing momentum providing a broad portfolio of Ethernet offerings for the Ethernet market.
The company offers PHY and switching silicon solutions for a wide range of Ethernet applications in servers, desktops and wiring closets.
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