Accelerant and FCI Quadruple Connector Bandwidth Density Enabling up to 50 Percent Reduction in Backplane Cost Per Port.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2003 Adaptively Equalized 10 Gb/s Transceivers Run Error-Free on FCI's AirMax VS(TM) Backplanes Delivering Connector Bandwidth Density of More Than 600 Gigabits per Inch Accelerant ac·cel·er·ant n. Accelerator. Networks and FCI (Flux Changes per Inch) The measurement of polarity reversals on a magnetic surface. In MFM, each flux change is equal to one bit. In RLL, a flux change generates more than one bit. Electronics today announced successful testing of Accelerant's new AN6000 family of low-power (less than 1.4 Watt quad at 10 Gigabits per second (Gb/s) on each port), high-speed SERDES See serializer/deserializer. (Serializer-Deserializer) transceiver (TRANSmitter reCEIVER) An electronic device or circuit that transmits and receives analog or digital signals. It comes in many forms; for example, a transponder on a satellite, a network adapter in the computer or the circuits in a cellphone. products over FCI's AirMax VS(TM) reference backplane An interconnecting device that has sockets for printed circuit boards to plug into. Passive and Active Although resistors may be used, a "passive" backplane adds no processing in the circuit. system. Using the companies' combined technologies, new systems can be designed with four times the backplane density at about half the cost of existing backplane approaches. With FCI's innovative AirMax VS(TM) connector configured con·fig·ure tr.v. con·fig·ured, con·fig·ur·ing, con·fig·ures To design, arrange, set up, or shape with a view to specific applications or uses: at 63 pair per inch and using Accelerant Networks transceivers at 10 Gb/s, the testing proved that a 630 Gb/s per-inch backplane interconnect solution is now a reality. This compares with today's system design constraint of 100 Gb/s per-inch backplane interconnects with 40-pair per-inch connectors using 2.5 Gb/s transceivers. Because the Accelerant transceiver performs at up to four times the speed of existing technologies without increasing power requirements, the total number of interconnects used in system design can be greatly reduced. The FCI AirMax VS(TM) connector increases interconnect density by about 50 percent. Combining these efficiencies, system developers can design next-generation backplanes that are far less complex than current systems by implementing 25 to 50 percent fewer interconnects and reducing backplane layer count by up to 50 percent. The bottom line is increased backplane connector bandwidth density for half the cost -- a compelling proposition for system OEMs. "Compounded by the continuing trend toward upgrades of existing systems in lieu of Instead of; in place of; in substitution of. It does not mean in addition to. new system installation, new system development today is driven by the simultaneous needs to offer enhanced bandwidth performance, absolute lowest cost-per-port, and the ability to support future bandwidth upgrades," said Joshua Johnson Not to be confused with Joshua J. Johnson. Joshua Johnson (c.1763–1832) was the first African American painter to make his living by painting. Biography Johnston was apparently self trained in his art. , industry analyst with Synergy Research Group. "End customers demand this from system OEMs to justify adding new equipment to their existing and new network installations. To compete, new systems must offer orders of magnitude more performance at lower cost. This drives the need for flexible, low cost, high bandwidth density interconnect coupled with silicon systems, which together enable lower cost backplanes." Backplane interconnect systems have traditionally been designed to support system bandwidth based on slower speed 2.5 to 3.125 Gb/s interconnects. This can drive complex backplane designs with high layer counts, high numbers of differential pairs Differential pair is a pair of conductors with special characteristics, used for differential signaling. Examples of the differential pair include:
 n),n the construction or making of a restoration. costs. To enable the ability for future bandwidth upgrades, designers either add additional pairs to the backplane or select higher cost connectors, materials, and fabrication techniques to support faster speeds. Both approaches increase backplane complexity and cost by at least two fold while merely doubling future bandwidth -- a cost-performance ratio that most customers won't accept today. Accelerant's AN6000 transceivers, in conjunction with FCI's low-cost, high-density AirMax VS(TM) connector, give system developers the ability to design significantly less complex backplanes with 6 to 10 Gb/s interconnects that are as reliable, as low-power, and as low-cost as today's typical 2.5 to 3.125 Gb/s solutions. FCI's AirMax VS(TM) connector achieves extremely low loss at speeds up to 20 Gb/s by using air as a dielectric dielectric (dī'ĭlĕk`trĭk), material that does not conduct electricity readily, i.e., an insulator (see insulation). A good dielectric should also have other properties: It must resist breakdown under high voltages; it should not . The connector's novel design does not require shields, yet exhibits lower crosstalk (1) Electromagnetic interference that comes from an adjacent wire. "Alien" crosstalk is interference that comes from a wire in an adjacent cable, for example, when two or more twisted wire pair cables are bundled together. than existing shielded high-speed connectors. Because of its extremely efficient operation, along with Accelerant's intelligent silicon technology, the AirMax VS(TM) becomes scalable to even faster speeds. This enables future bandwidth upgrades from next generation Accelerant transceivers at cost points equivalent to today's lower performance alternatives. "While the number of OEMs developing new systems is much lower today than it was three years ago, these companies are universally focused on extremely aggressive performance and cost targets," said Bill Hoppin, vice president of marketing for Accelerant Networks. "Accelerant and FCI have shown that 10 Gb/s adaptively equalized interconnects can work as reliably as 2.5 Gb/s interconnects at similar power requirement level, while dramatically reducing the cost and complexity of new backplanes." FCI's AirMax VS(TM) system is a highly adaptable connector system that can be configured to the specific needs of a wide range of new backplane designs without the cost of specialized or customized connectors. This flexibility is a result of FCI's novel IMLA Imla or Imlah (both: ĭm`lə), in the Bible, father of Micaiah the prophet. (Insert Molded Leadframe Assembly) configuration, in which the performance of the connector system is independent of the location of the IMLAs relative to one another. This IMLA independence allows the AirMaxVS(TM) system to be configured, when necessary, in different centerlines and adjusted to customer needs based on the combination of density, routing and board configuration. The inherent mechanical robustness of the connector is enhanced by an inverse system In mathematics, an inverse system in a category C is a functor from a small cofiltered category I to C. An inverse system is sometimes called a pro-object in C. configuration that places the most damage-susceptible pins on the line card rather than the backplane. "The AirMax VS(TM) connector system has been designed to offer the highest interconnect density and performance available at the lowest cost," said John Burkett Accelerant's intelligent silicon technology uses adaptive equalization A transmission technique that dynamically adjusts its modulation method based on the quality of the line. to enable higher bandwidth density in new backplane interconnects common to network, server, and storage equipment. Total power consumption in the Accelerant transceivers is comparable to transceivers rated at one-fourth the speed, making in-system thermal management less complex and lowering overall system costs. At 600 Gb/s per inch, Accelerant's transceivers consume less than 21 Watts. The adaptive equalization techniques used by Accelerant allow its transceivers to achieve very low bit error rates over temperature and humidity. "This isn't about Rolls Royce Rolls Royce the millionaire’s vehicle. [Trademarks: Brewer Dictionary, 928] See : Luxury boxes. It's about the current trend towards dense, low cost VW boxes enabled by high-speed backplane solutions that work error-free immediately, eliminating the typical six months of engineering effort required to bring up backplane interconnects prior to getting a new box to market," added Hoppin. "In one case, a system developer was able to bring up an entire 800 Gb/s system with Accelerant transceivers in a single day and run it error-free for several weeks." Pricing and Availability AN6000 series 6 Gb/s evaluation systems are available today and priced at $8,000. The evaluation system includes a MatLab software suite that allows full control and access to built-in BERT (Bit Error Rate Test) An analysis of network transmission efficiency that computes the percentage of bits received in error from the total number sent. (Bit Error Rate Tester) and digital scope diagnostics integrated into the silicon. About Accelerant Accelerant Networks is a fabless semiconductor company A fabless semiconductor company specializes in the design and sale of hardware devices implemented on semiconductor chips. It achieves an advantage by outsourcing the fabrication of the devices to a specialized semiconductor manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry or "fab. delivering intelligent silicon transceivers that unlock new levels of bandwidth from low-cost interconnects such as backplanes and cables used commonly in the network, storage and server markets. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Ore., with sales and application offices in Silicon Valley as well as a nationwide network of sales representatives. For more information visit Accelerant on the web at www.accelerant.net. About FCI Created in 1989, FCI -- an Areva Group company -- rapidly secured its place among the world's top three manufacturers of connectors and interconnect systems. With a turnover of 1.56 billion Euros (1.47 billion dollars) in 2002, FCI currently operates in 29 countries where it covers the following markets: communications, data, consumer, automotive and electrical power interconnect. The company employs about 14,000 staff worldwide. For more information: www.fciconnect.com. This press release can be viewed online at : http://www.accelerant.net/news_events/releases/200392.htm |
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