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A Guide to Metro Network Processors is now available for immediate delivery. Get the latest information on mid-range (OC-48) and high-end (10 - 40Gbps) NPUs typically used in metro applications. The report also covers configurable packet processors that compete with NPUs for Metro-Ethernet designs.For more information, visit our web site. web site. Conexant Upgrades VDSL2 Products Last week, Conexant announced availability of its latest products for VDSL2. These include the Accelity 2 chipset for the central office (CO) and a highly integrated chip for CPE. The CPE device is the more interesting and differentiated of the two products. The CPE chip integrates a VoIP engine for two voice channels and a network processor (NPU) for features such as QoS. In most cases, the embedded NPU should eliminate the need for an external services processor. Conexant offers one version for VDSL2 profiles up to 30a (100Mbps upstream and downstream) and another version for VDSL2 profiles up to 17a. Although Conexant is not the first vendor to announce an integrated DSL gateway processor, it is the first to offer such a product for all VDSL2 profiles. The CPE device offers interfaces to support most home networking technologies, including 802.11a/b/g/n, MOCA (Multimedia Over Coax Alliance), HomePNA, Gigabit Ethernet and HomePlug A/V. The company has also taken the lead by offering versions that support channel bonding. Bonding allows telcos to offer high bandwidth over longer loops, allowing them to service more customers. For the CO, Accelity 2 offers few improvements over the company's earlier devices. The new product consists of an 8-port data pump, a 4-port AFE, and third-party line drivers. We believe this device supports profiles up to 17a, which should be acceptable for most CO applications. Although the CPE devices integrate QoS support, the CO chip set requires an external chip for these features. Although the CO chip set offers few differentiators, Conexant has used its market position to win designs at several OEMs. The combinations of a proven CO product and a leading CPE product should put Conexant among the leading VDSL2 suppliers. —Jag Additional coverage of Conexant's VDSL2 products appears in our new report A Guide to Broadband Interface Chips.
UK-based security specialist nCipher has acquired the assets of Britestream Networks for an undisclosed but modest amount. nCipher had been a Britestream customer since 2005, and the deal allows the company to continue shipping board-level SSL accelerators based on Britestream chips. Austin-based Britestream followed a meandering path. The startup was founded in March 2000 under the name Layer N Networks to develop a unique type of security processor for high-speed SSL applications. After several delays, the company sampled its UltraLock SSL processor in 4Q03. During 2004, the company reorganized itself as Britestream, introduced board-level (SSL NIC) products, and began selling subsystems to VARs and system integrators. Britestream's most recent product was a single-port GbE NIC rated at 350Mbps of encrypted-traffic throughput and 10,000 SSL transactions per second. Until recently, UltraLock remained the only SSL product with a single-chip flow-through design. Because SSL is a Layer 5 protocol, a flow-through SSL chip must terminate the TCP connection before applying the SSL protocol. Compared with conventional SSL accelerator cards, Britestream's design was more secure and reduced host-CPU utilization. But these advantages came at a steep price when compared with conventional SSL accelerators from Broadcom and Cavium. The nCipher deal marks the end of the road for a startup that targeted too narrow a niche. Lookaside SSL accelerators adequately serve the bulk of the market, limiting Ultralock's appeal to a small piece of what has remained a small overall market. In this case, unique and superior technology couldn't overcome entrenched competition that was good enough. —Bob Complete coverage of SSL accelerators appears in our report A Guide to Security and Content Processors. This week, Brocade announced that it has acquired storage-processor startup Silverback Systems for an undisclosed amount, which we expect is significantly less than $10 million. This is Brocade's third acquisition in the last 10 months—the other two were NuView and McData. With its focus on data centers, Brocade acquired Silverback for its end-point technology, which includes TCP termination and iSCSI processing. Founded in 2000, Silverback was in production with its iSNAP21xx storage processors and had several customers, including Network Appliance. In 2Q06, Silverback raised $16 million to develop its next-generation products. The company was developing a 10Gbps storage processor but had not publicly announced the product. At the time of its acquisition, Silverback had 38 employees - most of them will be joining Brocade. Although Brocade is not a silicon supplier, it plans to continue supporting the existing Silverback customers. We do not expect the company to offer a standard version of the 10Gbps processor that Silverback was developing. Instead, we expect Brocade to use this technology to develop a 10Gbps ASIC for internal consumption. Although Silverback had funding to complete its follow-on products, the startup would have needed additional funding before it could see a significant return from the slow-developing iSCSI market. Consequently, the company's investors lost confidence, and Silverback had no alternatives outside of an exit. This acquisition should help Brocade develop 10Gbps ASICs for iSCSI and Fibre Channel gateways. —Jag
The first seminar in the Linley Tech 2007 series will cover CPU Cores and other licensable intellectual property (IP) and is intended for designers of ASICs and SoCs (systems on a chip). This event will be held on Wednesday, January 31, at the DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose. The complete program for this seminar is now available on our web site. The presentations will include:
Don't miss the opportunity to hear these distinguished technical speakers discussing the latest products and design trends. This Linley Tech seminar will be held in San Jose at the DoubleTree Hotel. Mark your calendars and register now at our web site. Your free attendance is made possible by our event sponsors: Tensilica, SafeNet, MIPS, Rambus, IBM, and ARM. To receive The Linley Wire via e-mail, click here
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