Vitesse Expands Fibre Channel Market Leadership with Multi-functional 4 Gbps Repeater/Retimer; Bi-directional Signal Conditioner Architecture Is First to Support Multiple Protocols.

PHOENIX -- Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:VTSS) today announced the availability of the VSC8228, a multi-rate 125 Mbps to 4.25 Gbps bi-directional Repeater/Retimer. This is the latest device in a family of products for the 4 Gbps Fibre Channel market, and it further strengthens the company's leadership this segment. The VSC8228 is a drop-in upgrade to the VSC7142, simplifying the migration from 2 Gbps to 4 Gbps in Fibre Channel systems. It is the first Repeater/Retimer to also support Gigabit Ethernet, ESCON, Infiniband, and SONET/SDH data rates, making it the ideal signal conditioning solution for multi-protocol Metro applications.

Seamless Upgrade to Next-generation 4G Fibre Channel Systems

The data throughput of storage area networks has continued to increase with each new generation of Fibre Channel systems. This increase necessitates transporting higher-speed signals on line cards and through backplanes, which often cause signal integrity issues from many ASICs and FPGAs. Today's 2G Fibre Channel systems rely heavily on signal conditioners, such as Vitesse's market leading VSC7142 Repeater/Retimer and the VSC7147 Hex Port Bypass Circuit (PBC), to ensure that the signal quality standards are met.

With the evolution of 4G Fibre Channel systems, the signal integrity issue increases dramatically, thus increasing the need for next-generation signal conditioning devices with high-quality pre-emphasis and equalization features. The VSC8228 builds upon the success of Vitesse's previous generation Fibre Channel products by offering a Repeater/Retimer that operates at 1G, 2G, and 4G Fibre Channel. Like the VSC7142 and VSC7147, the VSC8228 incorporates Vitesse's Fibre Timer(TM) technology, enabling the integrated Clock and Data Recovery unit (CDR) to clean up the data stream by either repeating the signal synchronously to the recovered clock, or by retiming the signal to the local reference clock, thus reducing the jitter and ensuring compliancy with the INCITS/T11 FC-PI2 standard.

In retimer mode, the add/drop elasticity buffers insert or delete Fibre Channel fill words to account for timing differences in the incoming data and local reference clock. The VSC8228 also monitors analog and digital aspects of the transmitted signal to provide various alarms such as loss of signal, and to assist in rate negotiation. The CDR function may be bypassed to accommodate rates not inherently supported by the device, making it the most application-flexible Repeater/Retimer on the market.

Unique Features Extend Application

The VSC8228 features programmable input signal equalization and output pre-emphasis, enabling the device to drive in excess of 30 inches (0.76 m) of trace over the standard reference backplane. The serial output also features adjustable output swing, optimizing both the signal integrity and power dissipation over the given trace distance.

The functionality of the VSC8228 goes beyond signal clean-up. The VSC8228 provides a clock output that is SGMII-compatible for applications requiring both data and clock signals. Also integrated into the VSC8228 is a feature-rich pattern generator and checker that can both generate and verify multiple PRBS, CRPAT, CJTPAT, and CSPAT patterns, as well as user defined patterns. The device also offers other built-in self test (BIST) features that greatly simplify system testing and reduce test times and costs.

These features, in addition to the low 360 mW typical power dissipation, make the VSC8228 ideal not only for line cards and host bus adapters, but also for backplane or box-to-box serial copper interconnect applications.

"The VSC8228 enables a seamless migration to 4G Fibre Channel from both a technical, as well as cost perspective," said Brad Sakai, product marketing manager for Vitesse's Transport Products Division. "The expanded data rate support and comprehensive feature set make the VSC8228 an ideal solution for a broad base of networking platforms."

Pricing and Availability

The VSC8228 is sampling today. The device comes in a 10 mm x 10 mm, 64-pin, PQFP package, and supports an extended temperature range (-10 degrees C to +105 degrees C). Volume pricing per unit is $6.35 USD.

About the Transport Products Division

Since introduction of the first SONET SerDes ICs nearly 15 years ago, the Transport Products Division at Vitesse has been a leading supplier of optoelectronics and physical layer devices for OEMs around the globe. With emphasis on the development of products to lower the cost of bandwidth for applications from 1 Gbps to 12.5 Gbps, Vitesse offers the industry's broadest product portfolio. As the world leader in transport ICs, Vitesse components are used in a wide array of products from industry leading OEMs.

About Vitesse

Vitesse designs, develops, and markets a diverse portfolio of high-performance, cost-competitive semiconductor solutions for communications and storage networks worldwide. Engineering excellence and dedicated customer service distinguish Vitesse as an industry leader in Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Ethernet-over-SONET, Advanced Switching, Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, Optical Transport, and other applications. Vitesse innovation empowers customers to deliver superior products for Enterprise, Access, Metro, and Core applications. Additional company and product information is available at www.vitesse.com.

Vitesse is a registered trademark in the United States and/or other jurisdictions of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.

Note to editors: Additional technical information on the VSC8228 is available at:

Product Brief and Photo: http://www.vitesse.com/products/group?hilite=VSC8228#VSC8228