Switch takes XAUI port redundancy onboard

Analog Devices has released the industry's first switching solution designed specifically to address XAUI (10 Gigabit Ethernet Attachment Unit Interface) port redundancy.

Analog Devices has released the industry's first switching solution designed specifically to address XAUI (10 Gigabit Ethernet Attachment Unit Interface) port redundancy.

A failsafe mechanism for maintaining high-system availability, redundancy is typically built into the ASIC switch fabric, thus limiting the I/O bandwidth of these devices.

By placing switching functions outside of the ASIC, the AD8159 dramatically increases the efficiency of the ASIC and frees up bandwidth previously dedicated to redundancy.

The newest member of ADI's X-stream family of switching solutions, the AD8159 special-purpose switch is configured as a quad multiplexer/demultiplexer that supports datarates up to 3.2Gbit/s, making it well-suited for the protocols of storage, enterprise, metro and core networking applications, including Fibre Channel, SATA, Sonet and Ethernet.

"Prior to the AD8159, designers of high-end switches and routers had to handle switching redundancy by building it into to the switch fabric ASICs, putting a greater burden on an already overtaxed I/O bandwidth", said Jay Cormier, Product Line Director for Linear Products, Analog Devices.

"The AD8159 provides designers with an efficient high-speed redundancy solution".

"Additionally, with its extensive signal integrity features, the device can tackle the toughest backplane environments, enabling system designers to increase reliability while lowering overall cost".

In addition to providing high-speed switching, the AD8159 offers a number of desirable features to simplify system design.

The device includes programmable receive equalisation and transmit pre-emphasis, assuring high levels of signal integrity over the long distances data must travel along the backplane of a modular system; loopback capabilities to assist in system diagnostics; the ability to swap the transmit and receive pairs to allow for greater flexibility in layout routing; and very low power dissipation.

Together, these features contribute to reduced time to market and a robust, reliable network with less downtime.

The AD8159 consists of a two-port multiplexer and a two-port demultiplexer.

Each port is a four-lane link, where each lane operates at up to 3.2Gbit/s independent of the other lanes.

There are a total of 12 differential PECL/CML (positive emitter coupled logic/current mode logic) compatible inputs and 12 differential CML outputs.

The operation of this product is optimised for NRZ (non-return to zero) datarates up to 3.2Gbit/s per lane.

The AD8159 has very low power dissipation, typically 1W at 3.3V with output pre-emphasis and input equalisation active on all lanes.

In addition, one port on the AD8159 allows reversal of transmit and receive pins to allow for greater routing flexibility.

Controlled and configured through simple control pins, the AD8159 requires no CPU interface.

The AD8159 is sampling now and will be available in production quantities in August 2005.

The AD8159 is packaged in a 100-lead TQFP (thin quad flatpack) and is priced at $11.95 per unit in 1000-piece quantities.

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