Vitesse Introduces Multi-rate Gigabit Quad Transceiver.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2001

Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq:VTSS) today introduced the VSC7216-01 -- a multi-gigabit interconnect IC, that efficiently routes four 1Gb/s channels of data within high speed network products.

The world class signal integrity of the VSC7216-01 is instrumental in directing critical signals across a circuit board, backplane or along transmission media, such as coaxial cable or optical fiber. The device operates at frequencies from 0.98Gb/s to 1.36Gb/s, ideal for Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet applications, and in half-rate mode from 0.49Gb/s to 0.68Gb/s.

The transmitter of the VSC7216-01 serializes eight to 32 low speed parallel datastreams into one to four high speed, encoded serial datastreams. Downstream, a receiving VSC7216-01 decodes and deserializes the data.

Reducing the number of transmitted signal lines greatly eases circuit board requirements making for more reliable and robust designs. The high data transmission speed and encoding algorithms ensure signals can be effectively sent over transmission line media.

The half-rate feature of the VSC7216-01 gives board designers a method for testing and verifying their designs at half the normal speed of operation. This feature also allows the device to be used at the OC-12 rate of 622Mb/s, for SONET-based applications.

Enhancements to the high-speed signal output circuitry of the VSC7216-01 include improved signal characteristics and allow the device be used without external termination. These enhancements result in decreased part count and board space requirements.

The VSC7216-01 is fully pin-compatible with its predecessor, the VSC7216, allowing designers to easily drop-in the new device and enables the half-rate feature via a formerly unused pin.

"These improvements add to the already long list of VSC7216 features, including redundant I/Os, individual channel loopback control, multi-chip channel aggregation, JTAG support, and encoder bypass mode," stated Bud Noren, product marketing manager for gigabit backplane products.

"They are available at no additional cost or power penalty, making the VSC7216-01 ideal for designers that require a lower rate serial device," concluded Noren. The VSC7216-01 is available now at a price of $50 for quantities of 10,000 units.

Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. is the leading designer and supplier of innovative, high performance semiconductors utilizing state-of-the-art processes -- for the communications equipment manufacturers of next generation DWDM and optical networking, as well as storage area networking ICs and enclosure management products that monitor and communicate critical reliability and availability information.

The company's products address the needs of Core, Access, Optical and Enterprise network equipment manufacturers who demand a combination of high speed, high complexity and low power dissipation. Vitesse has headquarters in Camarillo, and manufactures volume ICs at its two fabrication facilities in Camarillo and Colorado Springs. Company/product information can be found on the Web at www.vitesse.com.