DIGITAL’S New Multiport Controller, Desktop Switch Chips Boost Ethernet Performance, Lower Costs
ATLANTA, Georgia, October 8, 1997 — Two new chips that lower the cost of building high-performance, 10/100 megabit-per-second (Mbps) Ethernet network switches to $30 per port were announced here today by Digital Equipment Corporation.
"The challenge for network equipment manufacturers is to drive down the price of 100Mbps switching as fast as we were able to drive down the price of 10/100Mbps Ethernet host adapter controllers," said Frank Schapfel, product marketing manager of Network Products at Digital Semiconductor, a Digital Equipment Corporation business. "The 21340-AB and 21440 chips offer network vendors a choice of the lowest cost, most flexible components to design either cost-effective desktop buffered port switches or full-featured routers for 100Mbps Ethernet."
The 21440 Eight-Port 10/100Mbps Ethernet Controller simplifies the design and increases the throughput of 100Mbps Ethernet switches by combining flexible port interfaces with high-performance packet transfer and handling capabilities and network management. The 21340-AB Buffered Port Switch is a four-port buffer, with a Media Access Controller (MAC) on each port and four distinct backplane segments.
Two new Ethernet controllers, the 21143 10/100Mbps PCI/CardBus Ethernet chip and the 21540 PCI/CardBus Ethernet Controller with Modem Interface, were also announced today (see separate release). Digital Semiconductor is demonstrating the four new products today through Friday in Booth 7121 at Networld+Interop ‘97.
Both the 21440 and 21340-AB support advanced network management for Virtual LANs (VLANs) and feature RMON and SNMP counters for remote tracking, tuning, and load-balancing of the network.
21440 Controller for 10/100Mbps Switches, Routers
The 21440 Eight-Port Ethernet Controller contains eight independent Ethernet 10/100Mbps MAC ports. It is the only multiport Ethernet Controller to interface directly to either media-independent interface (MII) or SYM (100BaseTX [copper] or 100BaseFX [fiber]) physical devices. Each of the eight MACs includes two 256-byte packet transmit and receive FIFO buffers and is connected to a common, variable-speed, 4.2Gbps FIFO bus interface.
As many as four 21440 devices can be connected to a common bus, yielding up to thirty-two 100Mbps ports in a switch segment. To support Layer 3 switching and routing functions as well as VLANs, the 21440 chip features enhanced packet processing such as receive and transmit packet fragmentation and reassembly and header preprocessing.
Full Duplex With IEEE 802.3-Standard Flow Control
The 21440 complies with the latest IEEE 802.3 standard defining full duplex operation with flow control. The flow control mechanism optimizes memory management and enables the designer to reduce the packet memory needed in the switch without sacrificing performance.
"The 21440 offers comprehensive features and functions required for NetWiz’s high-end 10/100Mbps switch," said Ofer Harpak, vice president for Research and Development at NetWiz of Haifa, Israel, a leading, worldwide supplier of end-to-end Ethernet/Fast Ethernet and Giga-Ethernet switched networking solutions for large enterprises. "By opting for the 21440, we can save millions of dollars in ASIC development costs."
Advanced 21340-AB for 10/100Mbps Desktop Switches
The 21340-AB 10/100Mbps Ethernet Buffered Port Switch is an ideal, 100Mbps switch front end controller, lowering the cost per port of implementing a 10/100Mbps desktop switch. By filtering fragmented packets and filtering destination addresses at each port, low-cost VLANs can be implemented to reduce individual port traffic and increase network bandwidth. Up to four 10/100Mbps segments can be created with the 21340-AB, which allows for the design of an easy, software-upgradable migration from 10 to 100Mbps networks. An internal backpressure mechanism blocks remote-node transmission when a port becomes congested, avoiding packet loss and reducing an application’s total buffer requirements. The 21340-AB chip can connect to either MII or SYM physical layer devices through its four independent MAC interfaces.
"The 21340-AB helps create a new category of 10/100Mbps buffered port switches by bringing sophisticated network management features at new price points," said Greg Sheppard, Dataquest Chief Analyst, Semiconductor Applications Program. "Network switch OEMs could bring 21340-AB based products to market in early 1998 at less than $100 per port – less than half of comparable 100Mbps switches today."
Pricing, Availability
The 21440 Eight-Port Ethernet Controller is packaged in a 352-point ball grid array (BGA) package and is priced at $39 in 2,500-unit quantities. The 21340-AB 10/100Mbps Ethernet Buffered Port Switch is packaged in a 208-pin plastic quad flat pack (PQFP) and is priced at $25 in quantities of 2,500. Samples of both chips are available immediately, and volume production will begin in November. An evaluation board for the 21340-AB, part number DE-1N340, will be available in the first quarter of 1998 for $995.
Digital Semiconductor, a Digital Equipment Corporation business headquartered in Hudson, Massachusetts, designs, manufactures and markets industry-leading semiconductor products including Alpha microprocessors and PCI chips for networking, bridging, and multimedia, plus low-power StrongARM microprocessors under license from Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Samsung
Electronics Company Ltd. are alternate sources for Alpha microprocessors. Web site: http://www.europe.digital.com/semiconductor
Digital Equipment Corporation, recognized for product and service excellence, is a leading supplier of high-performance, Web-based computing solutions which help enterprises compete in the global marketplace. Digital gives its customers a winning Internet advantage through a comprehensive portfolio of Internet solutions based on award-winning systems, advanced networking infrastructure, innovative software, and industry applications — including those from its business partners. The expertise and experience of Digital employees help customers plan, design, implement, manage and support Internet solutions in countries throughout the world. For the latest company information, visit Digital on the World Wide Web at http://www.europe.digital.com
Note to editors:
Digital, Digital Semiconductor, and the Digital logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. StrongARM is a trademark of Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. CardBus is a trademark of the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association.
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