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Cicada Introduces World's First 500mW Copper Transceiver To Accelerate Enterprise Gigabit Ethernet Switch Deployment

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 January 2004, 06:00 CST

Industry's Highest Integrated Quad Port PHYs Enable Lowest Switch

Bill of Materials Costs

Cicada Semiconductor, the technology leader in Gigabit-over-copper transceivers, announced today its newest generation SimpliPHY quad transceivers, providing the industry's lowest 10/100/1000BASE-T power dissipation of just under 500mW per port -- approximately 30% less than the competition.

As corporate Enterprise networks rapidly transition toward Gigabit Ethernet to support increased bandwidth demands from today's Gigabit-enabled servers, storage systems, and desktop PCs, network system OEMs must provide high density, low cost Gigabit switching across their product lines. Cicada's three new quad transceivers, the CIS8224, CIS8234, and CIS8244, are targeted for use in ultra high-density switch designs where lowest power consumption, lowest bill of materials cost, highest performance, and smallest overall form factor are required.

In their lowest power mode, the new quad transceivers are the first copper PHYs to achieve 500mW per port power dissipation. At this power level, the devices enable Ethernet switch system designers to reduce power supply requirements by 30% compared to competitive transceivers that are also manufactured in 0.13-micron technology. For example, a 48-port switch based on Cicada's Quad transceivers reduces system power consumption by 10 Watts, lowering power supply and airflow requirements, and increasing overall system reliability.

"Power consumption of a Gigabit-over-copper PHY plays a significant role in high-density Gigabit switch design. Customers can rely on our market leading low power dissipation, and highest level of integration to enable them to bring to market the highest density Enterprise Gigabit Switches," said David McLean, Cicada's President and CEO.

To further minimize system complexity and cost, each of the new Quad transceivers integrates Cicada's patented, low power, low EMI, twisted pair interfaces, featuring the industry's first fully integrated line terminations. This means that, in addition to saving 10 Watts of power, by including the new transceivers in 48-port Gigabit Ethernet switches, system designers can eliminate:

-- $25 in discrete magnetic module costs

-- 576 external components

-- More than 12 square inches of PCB area

"To leverage their existing power supply designs and familiar line card form factors as the market makes the rapid transition from 10/100 to Gigabit Ethernet, switch OEMs require the lowest power and most highly integrated Gigabit PHY technology," stated Bob Wheeler, senior analyst with The Linley Group "With Cicada's unique technology, OEMs will be able to enjoy considerable BOM cost savings by eliminating hundreds of passive components."

The Fourth Generation Quad SimpliPHY Transceivers

Representing the company's latest SimpliPHY transceiver technology, the CIS8224, CIS8234, and CIS8244 quad PHYs are based on a mainstream, inexpensive, 0.13-micron digital CMOS process. The new quad PHYs include Cicada's field proven, fully adaptive equalization and innovative timing recovery algorithms which continue to lead the industry by providing up to 10 times greater noise tolerance performance than the competition. Superior noise tolerance eases system design and installation challenges in high-density Gigabit Ethernet switches, blade servers, and line cards, as well as in legacy copper cable plants with sub-standard cables, marginal connectors and patch cords, and noise from other communications services.

Enhanced Connectivity For Copper, Fiber Optics, and Backplanes

By providing flexible support for copper cabling, fiber optics, and system backplanes, the new Quad transceivers enable systems to be tailored to meet the specific feature set and cost requirements of switch system designers and OEMs. Cicada's Auto-Media Sense(tm) feature makes the transceivers ideal for use in high-density, multi-port switch designs where a variety of media must be supported from the same switch or MAC port. With four, integrated 1.25Gbps SerDes, each of the four transceivers can be connected to three different types of media, intelligently detecting and configuring each port to support any combination of unshielded twisted pair copper cabling, 1000BASE-X fiber optic GBIC or SFP modules, or system backplanes.

With broad support for the industry's most popular switch interfaces, the CIS8224 enables direct connectivity to virtually any switch fabric controller IC. In addition to supporting the industry standard, single-ended, parallel MAC side interfaces (RGMII and RTBI), the CIS8224's switch interface can be configured to support SGMII or 1000BASE-X SerDes serial MAC modes to minimize signal overhead to the switch fabric IC.

Full Suite Of Embedded Cable Plant Diagnostics & Test Modes

To help reduce switch OEM's test equipment costs and time, all four transceiver models include a full suite of powerful pattern generator/checker, loopback, and Built-in-Self-Test (BIST) test modes, as well as Cicada's embedded VeriPHY(tm) Cable Diagnostics. Extending the diagnostic capabilities commonly found in competitive offerings, Cicada's VeriPHY(tm) detects cable plant conditions such as cable length, opens, shorts, coupling between pairs, and termination status -- all without having to bring down the link.

Packaging, Pricing, and Availability

Three new Quad PHYs are available with support for various switch fabric interfaces and media types. All are compatible with "stacked" RJ-45 modules required in high-density switch designs. The new PHYs are offered in two package types: a 19x19mm, 260 ball, plastic HS-BGA with a 1mm ball pitch; or a 24x24mm, 216 pin, plastic EP-LQFP with a 0.4mm ball pitch.

Pricing starts at less than $4 per port in volume.

Volume production of the new quad transceivers begins in March 2004. A complete Gigabit Switch Reference Design Kit is available for comprehensive evaluation of the new transceivers.

About Cicada Semiconductor

Cicada is a leading supplier of DSP-based integrated circuit solutions to developers of high-speed communications systems used in Gigabit Ethernet based LANs and SANs. Cicada's advanced Digital Signal Processing and System-on-Chip design technologies are enabling affordable, gigabit-per-second digital communications throughout the Internet's infrastructure over ubiquitous copper cable installations and legacy fiber optic links. Cicada's LAN and SAN IC products include transceivers and advanced System-on-Chip solutions for Gigabit Ethernet networks and backplanes. Cicada was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

For more information, go to www.cicada-semi.com, or call 512-327-3500.

Cicada has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq:VTSS). The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2004.

About Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation

Vitesse is a leading designer and manufacturer of innovative silicon solutions and optical devices used in the networking, communications and storage industries worldwide. Vitesse works to specifically address the requirements of system designers and OEMs by providing high-performance, integrated products that are ideally suited for use in Enterprise, Access, Metro and Core applications. Additional company and product information is available at www.vitesse.com.

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