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DSS Networks Announced a New Compact 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch

Posted on: Thursday, 4 March 2004, 06:00 CST

DSS Networks announces another innovative first to market board level product -- offering an 8-port Gigabit Ethernet switch on a highly integrated PMC mezzanine card form factor -- demonstrating a firm commitment to quality board level network products targeted for OEMs and integrators of embedded and real-time systems. ¶ GigPMCSwitch -- Model 5468. The model 5468 features an innovative "4+2+2" switching design that is both unique and highly functional and can be used to provide add-on Gigabit Ethernet switching capabilities in a compact space. It has an integrated 8-port layer-2 device as the central switching function, a 2-port PCI-X Gigabit MAC host interface, an onboard control FPGA and transceivers for the interconnect. The total of 8-ports are routed as follows -- four ports to RJ-45's on the PMC bezel, two ports to the host via the Gigabit MAC's PCI/PCI-X bus interface and the remaining two ports routed as 1-gigabit Serdes to the I/O pins on the PMC "JN4" connector. ¶ The Model 5468 can be used as a standalone or simple managed multiport switch or front-end network processor and is fully IEEE 802.3 compliant. As daughter card, it can be used to add-on scalable-switched networking capabilities to any embedded system design with PMC sites. It is packaged in a 64-bit IEEE 1386 PMC mezzanine form factor suitable for embedded enclosures and operates in PCI-X and 64-bit, 66 MHZ PCI modes. It has a recessed quad-port shielded RJ-45 connector for connecting directly to CAT5 twisted pair cabling and multifunction Link/Activity LEDS. It uses advanced combined technology -- a Broadcom BCM5388 integrated 8-port layer-2 switch and an Intel 82546 dual port integrated PCI-X MAC-PHY and is capable of running all ports at wire-speed. In addition to the switch and MAC functions, a 4-port Gigabit Ethernet Serdes transceiver from PMC-Sierra and a Lattice FPGA are used to provide interconnect and control functions. The combination of the switching, MAC's, onboard routing and control functions provide a very high level of performance, functionality and integration using a low amount of power in a compact space. ¶ Features supported in the switch include port-based and 802.1Q VLAN's, trunking, link-aggregation, port mirroring, fail-over and QOS/priority. In addition, unicast and multicast addresses not found in the switching tables can be forwarded to the host processor via the PCI bus for additional processing. Using this host interface coupled with the onboard FPGA allows more dynamic control for switching and front end filtering/forwarding capabilities. ¶ The Model 5468 offers excellent performance, functionality and value and allows gigabit switched networks to be built into existing embedded systems as needed. Additional cards can be added as necessary and used to scale the network connections and capacity. Both Linux and VxWorks drivers are available for the host interface and optimized for high throughput and high frame rate applications. Conformal coating is also available for a more rugged design in harsh environments. ¶ The Model 5468 8-port Gigabit PMC switch is targeted for OEMs and Systems Integrators for use in data and telecommunications and is well suited for a variety of embedded Military, Aerospace, Telecom and Industrial applications. This product is available with an OEM Developers Kit containing Linux and VxWorks device drivers, library functions, frame generators, loopback tests, benchmark programs, statistics and management utilities and documentation. ¶ DSS Networks, Inc. is a privately funded company located in Irvine and designs and manufactures embedded high-performance next generation Broadband Networking products based on technologies including Gigabit Ethernet, 10-Gigabit Ethernet, Sonet, OC-48 and DWDM. ¶ For more information, visit their Web site at http://www.dssnetworks.com or send an e-mail to info@dssnetworks.com

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