Frugal DSL line driver boosts office port density

Elantec Semiconductor has developed a very low power DSL line driver ideal for high-density central office (CO) applications.

Elantec Semiconductor has developed a very low power DSL line driver ideal for high-density central office (CO) applications.

The EL1508C is the latest addition to Elantec's pin-compatible, footprint-compatible family of line drivers that have offered improved performance and reduced cost with each successive generation.

The new EL1508C uses proprietary circuitry to achieve very low distortion and 720mW total power consumption in full rate ADSL applications.

This is a full 100mW power reduction as compared with its predecessor, the EL1503C, for which the EL1508C is a direct replacement at a lower cost.

The EL1508C is a class A/B amplifier intended for designs requiring only two rails with +/-12V supply voltages and up to 450mA drive current.

The EL1508C achieves a large 43.6V peak-peak differential output swing while driving 100ohm.

Available in either a narrow body 16-pin thermal SOIC or a tiny 4 x 5mm leadless plastic package option, the EL1508C offers the industry's smallest footprint for high-density DSLAM line card designs.

The design of the EL1508C, a fifth-generation current-mode feedback DSL driver, has been optimised for low power, ease of use and a reduced number of external components.

As a result, the EL1508C needs up to nine fewer external components than other competitive voltage feedback line drivers, a significant design advantage.

The combination of lower power, smaller footprint, and reduction in external components are enabling features for designing leading edge, very high port count DSL line cards.

Higher port counts per square inch help reduce cost and improve profitability for DSLAM vendors.

Kaveh Parsi, Director of Marketing for Communications products at Elantec said: "Our DSL chipset partners have designed the EL1508C into their newest reference designs to take advantage of the lower power consumption, excellent low distortion performance, and the reduction in external components".

The EL1508C has been sampling since June and is now in production at a price of $3.48 each in 1000-piece quantities.

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