First functioning 10 Gbps backplane reference design demonstrated.

At DesignCon 2004, Winchester Electronics (www.winchesterelectronics.com) and Interconnect Technologies (www.littoninterconnect.com)--business units of Northrop Grumman Corp. (Los Angeles, CA)--and Xilinx Inc. (San Jose, CA, www.xilinx.com) demonstrated the world's first implementation of a fully functioning 10 Gbps backplane reference design. This backplane was manufactured using Winchester's SIP 1000 I-Platform Passive Interconnect Technology, Interconnect Technologies' printed circuit board design and fabrication expertise and Xilinx Virtex-II Pro X field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). It was tested using Agilent 10 Gbps test and measurement equipment.

Consistent with the input/output technology detailed in the UXPi standard, the companies demonstrated that 10 Gbps backplanes can be manufactured with off-the-shelf products and services available today.

"The inherent scalability and cost advantages of high-speed serial make this technology imperative for current and next-generation telecommunications, networking and storage applications," said Erich Goetting, vice president and general manager of the Advanced Product Group at Xilinx. "The demonstration proves that technology continues to push the envelope; backplanes can be built today that support 5G, 6.25G and 10G serial rates, allowing tomorrow's backplanes to be built and deployed today."

The platform is a true interconnect platform designed to enable 10 Gbps+ serial data transmission in copper backplanes without the need for active equalization techniques. Conceived as a passive system-level interconnect, the platform seeks to reset the balance between the passive and active elements in what have become known as active interconnect systems. It will deliver a new interconnect technology architecture that provides solutions for ultra high-speed, high-density differential applications.