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HOUSTON (May 29, 1995) -- In a move to speed development of high-speed networking solutions for the desktop, four leading IC vendors-Texas Instruments Incorporated, National Semiconductor Corp., AT&T Microelectronics and Broadcom Corp.-have agreed to supply reference designs to help equipment designers and manufacturers develop systems that support any one of three 100 megabit per second (Mbps) local area network (LAN) standards.
The reference documents illustrate use of a high-performance Ethernet controller from Texas Instruments and recommend procedures for linking TI's 100-Mbps TNETE100 ThunderLAN™ chip to physical layer devices from the other three companies.
"All four companies want to ensure that OEMs have the technology they need to deliver a wide variety of 100-Mbps Ethernet products to the market quickly," said Joe Valente, TI's Networking Business Unit brand manager. "We all want to make the migration path to high-speed Ethernet technology as smooth as possible for the end-user and incorporate integrated functionality for the designer."
Valente noted that the ThunderLAN architecture's media-independent interface (MII) allows it to be connected easily to other vendors' physical-layer (or PHY) chips. Using the procedures recommended in the reference designs, the TI ThunderLAN controller is interoperable with National's DP83223/DP83840 TWISTER™/Ethernet Physical Layer to 100Base-TX networks, AT&T's ATT2X01 transceiver, a member of their Regatta™ 100VG-AnyLAN family, and Broadcom's BCM5000 10/100BASE-T4 Fast-PHY Transceiver Chip to 100Base-T4 networks.
"The collaboration is providing the system designer with an alternate route to 100VG networking," said John Bestel, AT&T's marketing manager for LAN IC products. "It is another indication that networking vendors are acknowledging the acceptance of 100VG technology as a cost-effective and forward-looking high-speed LAN solution."
"The auto-negotiation feature of National's 100Base-TX chipset automatically senses the maximum speed and mode of transport of the network and configures to match it, ensuring that the end-user will never have to reconfigure his system," said Edwin DeSouza, director of the LAN division at National Semiconductor. "Also, the common magnetics design combines both the 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps filter/transformer components into one single design, lowering the cost and amount of board space required. Solutions using TI's ThunderLAN controller and National's TWISTER/PHY combo will eliminate the need for user intervention during network upgrades and can save the end-user up to $300 in cost," added DeSouza. "This reference design is a simple win-win solution for the diversified fast Ethernet marketplace."
"The 100Base-T4 market is an exciting and explosive new market that allows true fast Ethernet to operate over existing cabling infrastructures," commented Philip Lozowick, director of marketing for high-speed networks, Broadcom Corp. "The design resulting from this collaboration provides a very simple migration path for vendors using the ThunderLAN chip to 100Base-T4."
"The day of homogeneous networks is gone," said TI's Valente. "Users want to be able to select whatever networking protocol offers the best fit for their requirements. TI's ThunderLAN controller combines simplicity of design with ease of upgrade, giving users the freedom to choose the networking protocols that suit their requirements best. This device, combined with PHYs from AT&T, National or Broadcom, makes it possible for networking OEMs to design whatever 100-Mbps Ethernet solution they see a need for in the marketplace."
The three reference designs are available now and at no cost.
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Texas Instruments Incorporated, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a high-technology company with sales or manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries. TI products and services include semiconductors; defense electronics systems; software productivity tools; printers, notebook computers and consumer electronics products; custom engineering and manufacturing services; electrical controls; and metallurgical materials.
Headquartered in Berkeley Heights, N.J., AT&T Microelectronics offers a full line of high-performance components and electronic systems to original equipment manufacturers for applications in network computing, telecommunications, cellular/wireless and video communications.
National Semiconductor Corporation provides technologies for moving and shaping information. The company focuses on four key areas-communications, consumer, industrial, and personal systems. National Semiconductor is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has 22,300 employees worldwide.
Broadcom is a leading supplier of silicon solutions for the broadband digital communications market. Broadcom's customer base includes leading equipment manufacturers in the cable-TV, direct broadcast satellite, local area network, and digital microwave radio markets.
Trademarks:
ThunderLAN is a trademark of Texas Instruments Incorporated.
TWISTER is a registered trademark of National Semiconductor.
Regatta is a registered trademark of AT&T Microelectronics.