DIGITAL's New Ethernet Controllers Save Power, Deliver Desktop Functions to Mobile Systems
ATLANTA, Georgia, October 8, 1997 — Digital Equipment Corporation today introduced two 10/100 Mbps (megabit-per-second) Ethernet controller chips that offer high-speed network connectivity and advanced power management for next-generation mobile and personal computers.
The 21143 PCI/CardBus 10/100Mbps Ethernet controller is now optimized for low-power PCI/CardBus systems. The new 21540 PCI/CardBus Ethernet Controller with Modem Interface combines the advantages of the 21143 chip with an ISA-compliant modem interface to achieve substantial board space savings in mobile system, network interface card (NIC), and motherboard designs.
Full PC97/98 Compliance
The 21143 and 21540 controllers support all network device OnNow requirements for PC97 and PC98 specifications published by Microsoft, and are compliant with the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and PCI Power Management Interface specifications. Both 3.3-volt chips support four power states, from operational to cold, and respond to wake-up events including pattern-matching for VLANs and Magic Packet remote wake-up with SecureON password protection.
Digital Semiconductor, a Digital Equipment Corporation business, also announced today a new 21440 Eight-Port 10/100Mbps Ethernet Controller and an enhanced 21340-AB Buffered Port Switch (see separate release). Digital Semiconductor is demonstrating the four new products today through Friday in Booth 7121 at Networld+Interop ‘97.
One-Slot Solution for LAN and Modem Functions
"With the 21540 controller, manufacturers can now offer a single PCI/CardBus adapter with 10/100Mbps Ethernet and modem capabilities," said Frank Schapfel, product marketing manager for Networking Products at Digital Semiconductor. "PC and network interface card OEMs can now build a PCI local bus card, a CardBus adapter, or a daughter card as a single-slot solution for LAN and telephony connectivity."
The 21540 chip’s 160-pin LQFP form factor, with a lead pitch of 0.4mm, enables LAN and modem functions to fit into a one-slot configuration. When used on NICs, the 21540 chip eliminates a dedicated ISA modem slot, paving the way for PCI-only personal computers. The 21540 chip’s flexible modem interface allows OEMs to select the ISA-compliant modem chipset of their choice, including 56Kbps and ISDN chipsets.
Enhanced 21143 Controller
For networked Windows PCs, the 21143 chip supports hardware interrupt mitigation, which enhances client system performance in the NDIS 3 and 4 drivers. Other features include an integrated 10BaseT (10Mbps) transceiver, a standard media-independent interface (MII) for 10 or 100Mbps operation, and an integrated physical control layer and scrambler for 100BaseTX (CAT5) support. N-way auto-negotiation senses and sets full-duplex and half-duplex modes at 10Mbps and 100Mbps speeds. Large receive and transmit FIFO buffers eliminate the need for off-chip memory, and on-chip direct memory access (DMA) minimizes CPU intervention.
Price, Availability
The 21143-PD PCI/CardBus Ethernet Controller is priced at $9.00 in quantities of 10,000. Price of the 21540-PA PCI/CardBus Ethernet Controller with Modem Interface is $15.20 in 10,000-unit quantities. Samples are now available; volume production will begin in December.
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, SecureON, and the Digital logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. StrongARM is a trademark of Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. Magic Packet is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. CardBus is a trademark of the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association.
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