Marvell Enables 10-Gig EthernetMarvell Enables 10-Gig Ethernet

Marvell announces breakthrough with world's first 10-Gigabit Ethernet operation over 15 meters of standard copper cable

April 10, 2002

2 Min Read

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Marvell(R) (Nasdaq:MRVL), a technology leader in the development ofextreme broadband communications solutions, today announced asignificant industry breakthrough with the world's first 10 GigabitEthernet operation over 15 meters of standard 24 gauge copper cableusing the Company's Alaska(R) X 10 Gigabit Ethernet XAUI SERDES IC. Thisaccomplishment paves the way for significantly lower cost 10 GigabitEthernet links for applications requiring high-bandwidth links fordistances up to 15 meters. This breakthrough allows copper cable to be used for 10 Gigabit Ethernetapplications such as interconnect links between stackable switchingsystems, 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplink connections and chassis-to-chassisconnections. Today, optical links are the most commonly used form ofinterconnect for these applications. The cost of optical links issignificantly higher compared to copper links because the optical linksconstitute several additional optical and electrical components. Whilethe use of more active components often results in reduced reliabilityof the optical connections, the use of copper cable will allow systemsvendors to offer a highly reliable and lower cost alternative to opticalsolutions for short distance applications such as stacking links betweenswitch systems. Marvell achieves reliable 10 Gigabit operation over 15 meters ofstandard InfiniBand(TM) 8-pair cable with 24 gauge copper wires.Choosing a standardized cable and connector such as the InfiniBand cableeliminates the need for expensive proprietary cables and further reducescosts. In addition, the use of 8-pair cable allows for an aggregatebi-directional bandwidth of 20 Gb/s using IEEE XAUI signaling, which isbased on 4 pairs each in transmit and receive directions at 3.125 Gb/swith 8B/10B coding. "Marvell's engineering excellence has once again been demonstrated withthis industry breakthrough. This revolutionary achievement will providetremendous cost savings for next-generation switching systems,supporting Gigabit to the desktop with 10 Gigabit stacking and uplinks,"stated Gary Smerdon, Marvell's VP of Marketing for the CommunicationsBusiness Group. "We plan to demonstrate 10 Gigabit operation over 15meters of copper cable at the NetWorld+Interop tradeshow in Las Vegasfrom May 7th-9th and at the Supercomm tradeshow in Atlanta from June4th-6th (booth numbers 8085 and 24822, respectively)." Marvell Technology Group Ltd. For more information on Supercomm 2002, pleasevisit: Supercomm Special

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