OTTAWA -- Zarlink Semiconductor (NYSE/TSX:ZL) and Marvell® (NASDAQ:MRVL) today announced the successful demonstration of a synchronous Ethernet solution using already available products from both companies that will allow carriers to support real-time services over packet-based networks.

Carriers face a major stumbling block in the drive towards network convergence because many applications with “built-in” timing requirements rely significantly on network synchronization. For example, economical cellular backhaul over IP networks requires synchronization to allow legacy applications such as voice and fax to function properly. As high-growth applications such as YouTube and AOL Video gain popularity, these applications need to co-exist alongside critical time-sensitive services on IP backhaul networks. To guarantee performance, carriers must currently operate a number of different networks and deploy costly external mechanisms to ensure synchronization.

In response, Zarlink and Marvell’s collaborative solution focuses on emerging synchronous Ethernet solutions that allow carriers to support real-time services over asynchronous Ethernet networks. In synchronous Ethernet operation, each piece of network equipment must have synchronized timing capabilities.

To meet this requirement, the companies have successfully completed interoperability testing demonstrating that Zarlink’s ZL™30120 analog/digital PLL can synchronize a Marvell 88E1145 Ethernet physical layer device to a telecom networking timing reference, while generating a very low jitter (picoseconds) Ethernet clock. This will enable developers of Ethernet switching and routing platforms to provide complete end-to-end solutions for next-generation IP networks.

“This interoperability testing advances Marvell’s commitment to deliver the most comprehensive and technologically advanced Ethernet PHY solutions for the carrier market,” said Ozdal Barkan, director of PHY Technology for the Connectivity Business Unit, Communications and Consumer Business Group at Marvell.

Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE/Toronto: ZL)

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (Nasdaq: MRVL)