TI Announces High-Density, Single-Chip PHY Technology for Fast Ethernet LAN Switches

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Texas Instruments Delivers a Single-Chip, Physical Layer Interface for Fast Ethernet Solutions

DALLAS (June 2, 1997) -- Texas Instruments (TI) announces a differentiated, single-chip 10/100 physical layer interface (PHY) device suitable for application in Ethernet equipment such as network interface cards (NICs), PC motherboards, 10/100 hubs, routers and LAN switches. The new ThunderSWITCH™ 10/100PHY (TNETE2101) is designed specifically to simplify the migration from Ethernet to Fast Ethernet with a low power, single-chip device.

"With this highly-integrated PHY solution, TI offers a complete single chip 10/100 solution that reduces power consumption by 300% versus today's most popular two-chip solutions," said Robert Pace, strategic marketing manager at TI. "This solution provides customers the ability to increase port density, reduce costs of associated power supplies and cooling fans, as well as deliver products in smaller form factors such as CardBUS. Low power, sub-half micron CMOS PHY design is a core competency of our networking solutions portfolio. The TNETE2101 represents a powerful platform from which TI can rapidly introduce tailored solutions for our customers in both Ethernet and Fast Ethernet applications."

Critical Features for Networking Equipment

The TNETE2101 PHY offers industry standard connectivity for both Ethernet and Fast Ethernet using minimal external components, reducing costs and board space requirements. Operating at a breakthrough 3.3V, the PHY reduces power consumption, releasing power for use in other product functions such as supporting more user ports or a larger switching fabric.

Additional economical, efficient features include:

• Single 20 MHz clock for both 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps operation.
  
• IEEE auto-negotiation to sense port speed and half or full duplex operation.
  
• Standards compliance, including IEEE 802.3, 802.3u and JTAG.
  
• 100-pin thin quad flat pack (TQFP) packaging for smallest profile and affordability.
  

Builds Upon the Integrated TI Family of Networking Solutions

The 10/100 PHY is compatible with TI's ThunderLAN TNETE100 media access control (MAC) layer device, and TI's ThunderSWITCH family of switching solutions. Disclosure of additional physical layer devices based on this technology are planned throughout 1997. These devices will provide further integration and scalability for networking equipment.

TI's architectures are designed to deliver silicon expertise in a modular, highly integrated chip family for use in networking products that support both 10 Mbps Ethernet and 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet protocols. With the simple design of these devices, networking equipment vendors can shorten product development times, reduce board requirements and focus on delivering value-added features.

"Although many corporate networks are still based on 10Base-T, users need the higher performance of 100Base-T," Pace noted. "The networking industry will experience 400% growth in Fast Ethernet installations in 1997 alone. The TNETE2101 will help networking OEMs meet this market demand."

Pricing and Availability

Samples of the ThunderLAN TNETE2101 product are scheduled for availability in the second quarter 1997 with volume production scheduled for third quarter. The chip will be priced at $14 per unit in quantities of 10,000. TI will provide an evaluation module, schematics, a performance report from TI's Network Technology Center and an application note that describes how to connect the MII.

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