Recent advances in DSL chip technology that should result in big improvements in performance and big reductions in carriers costs are detailed in a Light Reading report published today (see DSL Chipsets). The report says the latest chips support standards aimed at making DSL services more attractive for both customers and carriers. The standards include ADSL2, which enables bandwidth to be adjusted automatically to cater for changes in line interference -- a development that should reduce truck rolls and customer churn, by improving service reliability. The standard also offers power-saving features, which further cuts operating costs, the report says.

Other standards include ADSL2+, which boosts bandwidths to 24 Mbit/s downstream and 3.8 Mbit/s upstream, and READSL (reach extended ADSL), which extends ranges of DSL lines by 2,000 to 3,000 feet.

The report also notes that semiconductor vendors are achieving much higher levels of integration in their latest chips. A 48-port line card now only requires six chips when using the latest chipsets from two vendors, Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN).

Table 1: DSL Chipsets for Central Office Equipment

Company	Chipset Name	Devices for a 48-port linecard	Sample Availability
Texas Instruments	AC7	6	Q4 2003
Broadcom	BladeRunner	6	Production
Analog Devices	OptiCOm	9	Q3 2003
STMicroelectronics	CopperWing 12 port	12	Jan-04
Analog Devices	Anaconda	15	Production
Ikanos	SmartLeap	18	Not disclosed
Infineon	GEMINA MAX	18	Production
STMicro-electronics	CopperWing	18	Production
Analog Devices	Diamondback	24	Production
Texas Instruments	AC6	36	Production
Texas Instruments	AC5	60	Production
Analog Devices	Copperhead	120	Production

Vendors covered in the report include:

• Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI)
• Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM)
• Centillium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: CTLM)
• Conexant Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CNXT)
• GlobespanVirata Inc. (Nasdaq: GSPN)
• Ikanos Communications Inc.
• Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE/Frankfurt: IFX)
• LSI Logic Corp. (NYSE: LSI)
• Metalink Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTLK)
• Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC)
• STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM)
• Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN)

The report author is Simon Stanley , founder and principal consultant of Earlswood Marketing Ltd.. A Webinar previewing this report, entitled "Semiconductor Vendor Effects on DSL Operator Networks," is archived here

— Peter Heywood, Founding Editor, Light Reading

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Archives of Related Light Reading Webinars:

• Next-Gen B-RAS: The Money Makers
• Next-Gen DSLAMs
• Upstream of the DSLAM: Beating Broadband Bottlenecks
• Working Text 81: The B-RAS Blueprint