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DALLAS (July 17, 1995) -- Texas Instruments announced today a new family of products that will drive Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) into mainstream networks. TI's ThunderCELL™ architecture is tailored to the unique needs of different networking environments and applications. Designed with performance and scalability in mind, current and future ThunderCELL products will allow manufacturers to establish new markets for ATM equipment.
"ThunderCELL provides a single, integrated architecture for developing systems that are finely tuned to meet different application needs," said Stevan Plote, TI's ATM Products Marketing Manager. "And ThunderCELL gives systems developers a 'future-proof' solution because the architecture can accommodate the continuing evolution in ATM standards and capabilities, such as LAN emulation and enhanced flow control for traffic management on ATM networks."
The ThunderCELL architecture was designed to give systems developers and network managers the benefits of simplified product development, an easy upgrade path, and the flexibility to choose among specific product implementations. Simplicity is achieved through unprecedented levels of integration in the ThunderCELL products. With fewer chips required for ATM cell processing, developers benefit from shorter development times and the ability to add capacity or functionality to their cards.
Finally, ThunderCELL delivers flexibility to both systems developers and network managers. Systems developers can choose among ThunderCELL products tailored to different buses and tasks, yet based on a common architecture.
"By expanding its investment from token ring technology to high-speed Ethernet and now ATM, TI has made a serious commitment, first to its customers by offering a broad spectrum of networking solutions, and second to being an integral networking solutions partner," said Tam Dell'Oro of the Dell'Oro Group.
The ThunderCELL HyperSAR (TNETA1570) offers throughput of greater than 200 megabits per second (Mbps) -- higher bandwidth than is available on any similar device today. It is targeted for hubs and LAN or enterprise switches that have an ATM interface or backplane. The ThunderCELL HyperSAR was co-developed under a strategic relationship between TI and Ascom Nexion. Ascom Nexion, a company pioneering the implementation of new generation integrated service communications products, will include the device in its Nexen product family.
"We jointly architected and developed the ThunderCELL HyperSAR with Texas Instruments because the availability of a high-performance ATM SAR with new capabilities is critical to the ongoing evolution of networking products," said Bruce McClure, President and CEO of Ascom Nexion.
The ThunderCELL HyperSAR reduces costs for systems developers by delivering integrated support for multiple networking services (e.g., ATM, frame relay, and Ethernet) on a single platform and permitting smoother addition of new services. For network managers, the device's design adapts to existing networking environments, which enables the continuing use of legacy equipment and services and supports gradual evolution to ATM.
The chip also offers dedicated constant bit rate (CBR) support for transmitting video traffic, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) interface for easily connecting personal computers, "buffer chaining" to ensure more efficient use of memory and system resources, and other features that improve packet-processing performance.
Three other products announced by TI today deliver the benefits of the ThunderCELL architecture to developers of network interface cards (NICs) for workstations and personal computers. The ThunderCELL TNETA1560 SBus SAR and TNETA1561 Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Bus SAR offer highly integrated functionality for NICs. The ThunderCELL TNETA1500 transceiver provides a consistent physical layer for ATM adapters and is the only device of its type currently available that meets both the ATM Forum standard for the User-Network Interface (UNI) and Bellcore jitter specifications.
All ThunderCELL products are scheduled for availability from TI and its authorized distributors. The ThunderCELL HyperSAR will be priced at $78 per unit in quantities of 1,000, with samples available now and volume production scheduled for third quarter 1995. It is packaged in a 240-pin MQUAD.
The ThunderCELL TNETA1560, housed in a 240-pin plastic package, is priced at $50 per unit in quantities of 1,000 and is shipping now. The ThunderCELL TNETA1561, also packaged in a 240-pin plastic package, is also priced at $50 per unit in quantities of 1,000 and is sampling now. Volume production is scheduled for third quarter 1995. The ThunderCELL TNETA1500 is shipping now, priced at $45 per unit in quantities of 1,000, and is housed in a 144-pin QFP.
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