Infineon Intros Sonet/SDH Framers

MUNICH -- Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX) today announced the addition of the most highly integrated multi-rate, multi-channel, high-data-rate SONET/SDH framer chips to its industry-leading portfolio of optical networking solutions. The new Tethys™ SONET/SDH Multi-Rate Framer family of ICs provides, in one chip, functions that are critical for next-generation optical networking equipment in such applications as add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) and digital cross-connect switches. They allow manufacturers to increase line card port count and capacity while decreasing per-port cost and power, and allow a single line card design to be configured for multiple data rates by simply changing the optical modules attached to it.

The single-chip Tethys devices integrate functions previously requiring up to five separate components, including aggregation of up to 16 channels of traffic, serializing/deserializing, pointer processing, clock and data recovery, and transport overhead (TOH) and path overhead (POH) processing. This is the highest degree of integration of any SONET/SDH framer chip in its class, effectively creating the first high-density “line card on a chip.” Use of the Tethys framers can result in significant savings for manufacturers of line cards for trunk, tributary and service applications in terms of power consumption, board design complexity and space, software development, and overall system cost.

The first two members of the new framer family, the Tethys 448 and Tethys 4192, support high-density aggregate throughputs while meeting the most stringent SONET/SDH jitter requirements. The Tethys 448 fully supports 16 channels of OC-3/STM-1, 16 channels of OC-12/STM-4, or 16 channels of OC-48/STM-16, which can be mixed in any required combination. In addition to the Tethys 448 capabilities, the Tethys 4192 adds support for four channels of OC-192/STM-64.

“The Tethys chips are another milestone on our road to delivering the fullest portfolio of standards-based solutions to the broad optical networking market,” said Subodh Toprani, Senior Vice President, Infineon Technologies, and General Manager, Infineon North America Communications Business Group. “They meet a huge need in the market, where more than 70 percent of SONET/SDH networks involve ‘pure’ TDM applications. Together with our other solutions, such multi-rate and highly programmable devices as the Tethys family enable our customers to offer products with higher bandwidth and functionality in their road maps with a single design.”

The Tethys framers provide unsurpassed flexibility by allowing every port to be independently set for a different data rate, permitting “any port, any rate” configuration, and by providing a direct interface to optical modules. This enables equipment to be programmed in the field by simply changing the optical modules. This capability allows service providers to purchase one card for use in multiple applications, substantially reducing maintenance costs, in-service upgrades and inventory.

"Service providers are constantly looking for ways to reduce the cost of new network builds. To reduce R&D and production costs, system vendors are now replacing legacy framer ASICs with newer standard products," said Allan Armstrong, Program Director at telecommunications industry analyst firm RHK. "Unified framer solutions that support a variety of data rates with a common hardware and software architecture allow system vendors to leverage their engineering efforts, greatly cutting costs for new platforms. Improvements in integration also help system vendors make denser line cards, which makes their products more competitive in both edge and core applications."

Infineon Technologies AG