VIA Crafts First All-In-One Fast Ethernet Controller; First Low Pin-Count, Single-Chip, Plug & Play Ethernet Controller Bundles More Desired Features Than Competitors.FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 1996--VIA Technologies Inc., a key developer of PC logic components, has raised the integration bar, while maintaining competitive costs with its new, 10/100M Fast PCI/Ethernet Controller.The VT86C100 "Rhine" Ethernet controller is the first offering dual-standard (10 Base T & 100 Base T), PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). Plug & Play compatibility, 32-bit bus mastering A bus design that allows the peripheral controllers (plug-in boards) to access the computer's memory independently of the CPU. It allows data transfers to take place between the peripheral device and memory while the CPU is performing other tasks. bus mastering - bus master and powerful buffer management features all in a 100-pin package. "Rhine is our latest networking chip providing Ethernet product designers features not previously integrated into a single-chip," said Wen-Chi Chen, president. "OEMs can now create dual-standard, easier-to-use, more cost-competitive products during this transitional period in networking standards." Complying with PCI spec 2.1, VIA's Ethernet chip integrates the entire bus interface for PCI systems via jumpers or software. Its Early transmit, Early receive and Interrupt Priority Access Control Enabling (PACEing) feature, coupled with a deep internal FIFO (First In First Out) A storage method that retrieves the item stored for the longest time. Contrast with LIFO. See traffic engineering methods. FIFO - first-in first-out , provides a superior buffer management solution. Supports Dual Ethernet Standards Rhine integrates a fully compliant IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 802.3i 10 Base T transceiver saving customer board space costs. It also provides a logical partitioning of the IEEE 802.3u (networking, standard) IEEE 802.3u - The IEEE committee working on standards for Fast Ethernet. 100 Base T and 100 Base T4 functions for simplified connection to MII 1. (body) MII - A consortium of Microsoft, IBM, and Intel. 2. (storage) MII - A broadcast component video tape format licensed by Panasonic. transceivers from other vendors. Single-jack/dual-standard support of board-level designs is provided by Rhine's self-sensing of 10 Base T/100 Base T link pulse inputs. Other significant features include: -0- -- On-chip Bus Master with programmable burst length for low CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. utilization -- Direct connection to PCI Bus -- Supports two network ports with 10/100 M MII interface -- Integrated 10 Base T interface with: -- built-in pre-equalization circuitry for transmitter -- smart squelch circuit Noun 1. squelch circuit - an electric circuit that cuts off a receiver when the signal becomes weaker than the noise squelch, squelcher circuit, electric circuit, electrical circuit - an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow with programmable receiver threshold -- selective link integrity test and link disable -- selective polarity detection and correction -- Early transmission receiving ability allowing parallel data processing during transmission/receiving -- Software controllable power-down feature -0- Price and Availability The all CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Pronounced "c-moss." The most widely used integrated circuit design. It is found in almost every electronic product from handheld devices to mainframes. VT86C100 "Rhine" PCI bus master, 100 Base T Fast Ethernet Controller is available in sample quantities starting in July at $25. Production volumes are scheduled for September. Background Founded in 1987, VIA Technologies Inc. designs, engineers and manufactures cost-effective, highly-integrated, high-functionality system logic chip sets and peripheral control logic ICs for single- and dual-processor desktop and portable PCs. -0- NOTE TO EDITORS: VIA is spelled ALL CAPS. All trade names and marks are the property of their respective companies. CONTACT: VIA Technologies Inc. Dick Renne, 510/683-3316 dick_renne@viatech.com or Marketing/PR Savvy Ford Kanzler, 415/726-1055 fkanzler@aol.com |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion