Editor: Linley
Gwennap In This Issue
Time is running out and space is limited, register now to reserve your place! On Sept 16, The Linley Group will host a free one-day seminar packed with the latest information on designing security in networking systems. Hear industry experts face off with competing solutions for your security system design. Qualified attendees earn FREE admission, courtesy of our sponsors Hifn, Cavium, Freescale, Intel, SafeNet, and The Linley Group. For a complete program listing and registration information, visit our web site. Freescale Acquires Content Processing Expanding its portfolio of networking technologies, Freescale acquired Seaway Networks, a content-processing startup based in Ottawa, Canada. Seaway offered a chip that performs TCP termination, web switching, ACL filtering, and pattern matching at up to 5Gbps when combined with external PowerPC processors. We expect Freescale to integrate some of Seaway’s technology into its PowerQuicc processors, with the first such products appearing as early as next year. Founded by an ex-Nortel team, Seaway focused on delivering strong system-level performance rather than simply accelerating individual tasks such as TCP or pattern matching. The team chose to combine an ASIC with PowerPC CPUs, but the multichip solution was bulky and expensive, so Seaway began working with Freescale’s semicustom operation to create an integrated device. Realizing the potential of Seaway’s technology, Freescale decided to bring it in-house. Although terms were not disclosed, we believe the price provided a modest but positive return on the US$21 million that Seaway had raised. The development team remains intact as Freescale’s new Ottawa Design Center. Whereas Seaway targeted the high end of the market, Freescale is likely to take a broader approach. By combining some of Seaway’s technology into its PowerQuicc chips, Freescale can target security and content-processing applications ranging from 200Mbps to 2Gbps or more, covering the bulk of the market. PowerQuicc already offers a high-speed CPU, encryption, network interfaces, and other useful system functions. The new devices should help Freescale gain design wins in security appliances, web switches, and similar equipment. --Linley Hear more about Freescale’s
new content-processing technology at our security
seminar on
Friday, September 16. The recent Intel Developers Forum (IDF), the first under new CEO Paul Otellini, presented communications technology not as a vehicle for generating new revenue, as in the past, but rather as a means of enhancing the value of Intel’s PC and server business. This new emphasis is consistent with Intel’s recent organizational changes, the rebound in the computing market, and the failure of communications product lines to establish themselves as material, independent contributors to Intel’s growth. Nonetheless, Intel continues to highlight communications technology as vital to Intel’s overall growth. IDF keynotes featured WiMax, Wi-Fi, and HomePlug. In his keynote, CEO Otellini demonstrated HDTV delivered over WiMax. WiMax’s limited bandwidth, however, renders it inappropriate for video distribution, and the demonstration primes the public for future disappointment in the technology. More practical demonstrations of WiMax’s utility were featured in the keynote by the head of Intel’s Mobility Group, Sean Maloney. For example, his talk showed it being used to communicate with ships at the port of Rotterdam and to deliver broadband data access in rural Canada. Although Intel supplies WiMax chips, the main value Intel expects to reap from WiMax is increased sales of PCs and digital-home devices. Maloney introduced the Cisco/Intel alliance for voice-over-Wi-Fi. The first fruits from the dominant suppliers of enterprise WLAN gear will be proprietary technology to enhance QoS for WLAN-based VoIP and optimize association between access points and clients. Again, the point of the new features from Intel's perspective is to stimulate sales of its computing platforms. Finally, Don MacDonald highlighted Intel’s newly resumed support for HomePlug power-line networking, resurrecting interest in this wired technology. Intel sees HomePlug as an alternative to wireless distribution of video content in the home, an application expected to drive sales of Intel’s digital-home platform. By focusing on boosting sales of its microprocessor-based platforms, Intel is building demand for new communications technologies, but the company will not be the sole supplier of chips for these technologies. Intel’s efforts will improve the prospects of the many chip vendors, large and small, developing WiMax, Wi-Fi, and HomePlug devices, as well as companies offering base stations, add-in cards, and similar products. These suppliers can now collaborate with, rather than compete against, the deep-pocketed semiconductor company. —Joe Complete
coverage of WiMax and next-generation Wi-Fi appears in our
new report A
Guide to Next-Generation Wireless. Last month Stargen and Dune Networks closed rounds of additional funding. Stargen raised $15.5 million, which the company will use to develop fabric products using the ASI specification. This round included all investors from the previous round, reflecting confidence in the company’s direction and execution. While Stargen is completing its ASI solution, Dune has been shipping its fabric to several customers. In a vote of confidence for Dune’s position, Siemens joins the startup as a late investor. Although Siemens and Dune did not disclose the amount invested, we expect it was less than $3 million dollars. In the last six months at least four fabric vendors, including Terachip and Sandburst, have closed additional rounds of funding. Although the revenue for fabric products remains small in 2005, the opportunities for future business have not looked better in the last four years. —Jag Complete
coverage of Stargen and Dune appears in our report A
Guide to Switch Fabrics. For UWB, the report covers 15 vendors that offer or are developing WiMedia, Wireless USB, or other UWB networking chips. Within the WiMedia segment, we cover chips from startups Alereon, Staccato, and Wisair. We also cover the second wave of WiMedia startups, including Blue7, TZero, and WiQuest. Outside of the WiMedia camp, the report covers impulse-UWB chips from Freescale and Artimi. For Wi-Fi, we look at multiple-antenna designs from Airgo Networks, Atheros, and Metalink. These products are precursors to 802.11n chip sets and implement key technologies such as MIMO, beamforming, and MRC. We also discuss the 802.11n plans of major Wi-Fi chip vendors Broadcom, Conexant, Intel, Realtek, and Texas Instruments. For WiMAX, the report covers 10 chip vendors that offer or are developing products for fixed (802.16-2004) or mobile (802.16e) applications. For fixed applications, we examine the differing requirements of subscriber-station (CPE) and base-station designs. For CPE, we compare the system-on-chip (SoC) devices from Fujitsu, Intel, and Sequans Communications along with Wavesat’s PHY chip. For base stations, we compare the solutions from Fujitsu, PicoChip Designs, Sequans Communications, and Wavesat. The report also covers WiMAX startups Beceem, Cygnus, Runcom, and Telecis. The report features detailed coverage of the many chip vendors, including product details and roadmap information where available. For each segment, we compare the available solutions and pick our winners. Only The Linley Group’s unique technology analysis can provide this forward-looking view. Get your copy today. For further information on this report, visit our web site.
Nikkei
Electronics: Freescale Strengthens Core Business
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