Communications: Ethernet Switch Chip Trims Total Latency To Less Than 200 ns

Feb. 16, 2006

The FocalPoint family of 10-Gbit Ethernet switch chips contains fully integrated solutions with as many as 24 10-Gbit Ethernet ports. At the core of each chip are the company's patented highthroughput Terabit crossbar and RapidArray packet memory technology. The crossbar can deliver more than a terabit/s of non-blocking throughput with an internal latency of less than 3 ns. The FM2224's 24 quad serializer-deserializer (SERDES) 10-Gbit Ethernet interfaces can be configured to operate at 10 or 2.5 Gbits/s or 1 Gbit/s as well as 100 and 10 Mbits/s. The FM2112 packs eight quad SERDES 10-Gbit interfaces along with 16 single SERDES interfaces that can support 2.5 Gbits/s or 1 Gbit/s or 100- or 10-Mbit/s operating modes. Each 10-Gbit port on the switch chips contains an integrated 10-Gbit XAUI interface and 8 Mbits of on-chip packet storage. The chips also provide standards-compliant layer 2 Ethernet switch features, including port and MAC-based virtual local-area networks, link aggregation, port-and MAC-based security, and spanning tree link management. Samples of both chips are available. In quantities of 5000, the FM2112 and FM2224 cost $285 and $450 each, respectively.

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Fulcrum Microsystems Inc.
www.fulcrummicro.com

About the Author

Dave Bursky

Technologist

Dave Bursky, the founder of New Ideas in Communications, a publication website featuring the blog column Chipnastics – the Art and Science of Chip Design. He is also president of PRN Engineering, a technical writing and market consulting company. Prior to these organizations, he spent about a dozen years as a contributing editor to Chip Design magazine. Concurrent with Chip Design, he was also the technical editorial manager at Maxim Integrated Products, and prior to Maxim, Dave spent over 35 years working as an engineer for the U.S. Army Electronics Command and an editor with Electronic Design Magazine.