SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Marvell® (Nasdaq:MRVL - News), a technology leader in the development of extreme broadband communications and storage solutions, today announced that it has achieved an industry milestone with the introduction of the world's lowest power and most advanced Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) copper PHY technology. The new Alaska(TM) GbE PHY family is also further enhanced with advanced proprietary Mixed-Signal, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and power management techniques, which enables the highest density and most compact form-factor Gigabit switches on the market today. The new family includes single, quad and octal port products, which are optimized for next-generation infrastructure and client applications.

The Alaska family has broken through a significant technology barrier by achieving under 0.5 watt per port power dissipation in actual, real world, full-duplex Gigabit operating conditions. This new level of ultra-low power consumption provides substantial system benefits by eliminating the need for fans and other cooling mechanisms such as heat sinks. In addition, the size of the system power supply "brick" is substantially reduced due to lower overall power consumption. The reduced size of the power supply and the elimination of fans significantly lower the overall cost of the system. Removal of fans provides an added benefit of reduced noise, resulting in quieter working areas.

The new Alaska transceiver features Cisco Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII), which enhances system performance by using advanced serial links as opposed to conventional parallel buses. Serial links simplify board design and enable the use of 4 layer PCBs for Gigabit Ethernet switching systems. Use of substantially fewer PCB layers provides significant cost benefits to system manufacturers.

"Marvell has once again raised the technology bar for the Gigabit Ethernet PHY landscape by setting a new industry benchmark for power and performance," stated Kamal Dalmia, Director of Product Marketing for Marvell's Connectivity Business Unit. "We are continuously developing new and more robust physical layer technology, which enables us to strengthen our market share leadership and build on our proven track record."

The new Alaska PHY family also features several enhancements to Marvell's innovative Virtual Cable Tester(TM) (VCT) cable diagnostic technology, which has become a de facto requirement in Ethernet systems. VCT enables IT managers and end-users to quickly and remotely analyze the quality and attributes of the attached cable plant, helping pinpoint the cause of network cable malfunctions without deploying field support personnel or bringing down the network. VCT allows for a significant reduction in installation time, cable debug efforts and overall network support cost.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd.