Performance Records Claimed For 10-Gbps Transceivers

The arrival of two new nPower ICs has reportedly pushed the level of integration of 10-Gbps transceiver chips to new heights while shrinking power dissipation levels down to new lows. The BBTX100, supporting 10-Gbps Ethernet (IEEE-802.3ae) and Fibre Channel (NCITS T11/Project 1413-D) PHY interfaces, and the BBTX102, supporting SONET/SDH (OC-192), are said to replace two existing ICs and to dissipate only 1.5W (max.), one-fourth that of existing solutions. The full-duplex, CMOS transceivers reportedly allow designers to quadruple port densities in routers, switches and data storage equipment, as well as make it possible to shrink optical transponders into the tight dimensions called for in emerging XENPAK, XPAK, X2 and XFP standards. In operation, the nPower BBTX102 receives high-speed data (up to 10.7 Gbps for forward error correction) from an OC-192 optical transceiver connected to fiber optic cable, with the new chip then converting the data into four lower speed serial streams (up to 3.223 Gbps each) and outputing the data over an SFI-4.2 Phase 2 interface. The BBTX100, in turn, can be configured on-the-fly for either 10-Gbps Ethernet or Fibre Channel, making possible the design of line cards and optical transponders serving both interfaces. The chip also contains a powerful equalizer that compensates for signal losses. Both the BTTX100 and 102 come in 192-ball BGAs priced at $250 and $280 each/10,000, respectively. For more details, call Leo Wong at BITBLITZ COMMUNICATIONS INC., Fremont, CA. (510) 656-4600, ext 204.