PMC-SIERRA ANNOUNCES QUADPHY-II XENPAK/10GE EVAL SYSTEM.

PMC Sierra has announced the PM2373-KIT QuadPHY-II XENPAK/10GE evaluation system, a comprehensive PC-based evaluation and development platform for Metro and Enterprise networking equipment.

PMC-Sierra's new evaluation system is designed to the IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) specification and has been proven interoperable with Agilent Technologies' industry leading HFCT-701XB 10 GBASE-LR XENPAK optical transceiver (see figure 1).

"This collaborative effort between PMC-Sierra and Agilent, along with the successful interoperability of the QuadPHY-II device and the HFCT-701XB XENPAK optical transceiver, will enable network equipment architects to focus on system level aspects of the design rather than verifying connectivity," said Antony Spilman, Agilent's strategic marketing manager for 10 Gigabit Ethernet transceivers and XENPAK editor.

The QuadPHY-II XENPAK/10GE evaluation system allows designers to exercise the entire range of QuadPHY-II functionality. The new evaluation system incorporates a Tyco Electronics Z-PACK HM-Zd connector and XENPAK optical module socket for interoperability testing. The PM2373-KIT contains a PCI card, CD containing drivers/scripts, user manual and evaluation card. The evaluation card houses the QuadPHY-II, a FPGA for generating IEEE 802.3ae compliant traffic, XENPAK socket and Tyco Electronics connector.

"The QuadPHY-II is a world class device with industry proven signal integrity performance that targets Metro and Enterprise applications," said Peter Wong, strategic marketing manager of PMC-Sierra's Enterprise and Storage Division. "The QuadPHY-II evaluation system's interoperability with Agilent's HFCT-701XB XENPAK optical transceiver is just one example of how we are helping our customers effectively design in systems while supporting the market's increasing demand for our multi-port and multi-gigabit SERDES products."

The PM2373-KIT QuadPHY-II XENPAK/10GE evaluation system is now available and priced at $2775 each. A comprehensive support package including reference design documents, application notes and user manuals is available.