Lucent Technologies Delivers New Field-Programmable System Chips for High Speed PCI Bus and Backplane Data Interfaces
Allentown, Pa.--November 8, 1999.--Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group announced two newintegrated circuits (ICs) in its line of field-programmable system chips(FPSCs) - devices that combine field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) withstandard-cell logic on the same chip to provide design flexibility and highperformance.
They are a 64-bit, 66-megahertz (MHz) peripheral componentinterface (PCI) and a full-duplex 2.5 gigabit per-second (gbps) systembackplane transceiver for high-speed data transfer.
The new FPSCs extend Lucent's lead in delivering communications-specificintellectual property through a choice of silicon offerings that enablesystems manufacturers to bring systems to market quickly and economically.These offerings include ORCA(r) FPGAs, FPSCs, standard-cellapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specificstandard products (ASSPs.
The new PCI FPSC, called the OR3LP26B, is based on Lucent's current OR3TP12PCI FPSC, but doubles the amount of FPGA logic on the chip and doubles thebandwidth between the PCI core and the back-end FPGA logic. The new deviceoffers up to 120K usable FPGA system gates along with a programmablehigh-speed PCI core implemented in standard cell logic. Included in thestandard cell logic are clock transfer FIFOs and DMA control logic.
The backplane transceiver, called the ORT4622, contains a 4-channel 622megabit-per-second (2.5 gbps when all 4 channels are used) full-duplexsynchronous interface with built-in clock and data recovery (CDR) instandard-cell logic, along with up to 120K usable FPGA system gates.
The CDR ircuitry is a macrocell available from Lucent's Silicon Suites macrolibrary, and has already been implemented in several ASICs and standardproducts in various channel configurations. Designers can choose fromseveral Lucent intellectual property soft cores for the FPGA block to createinterfaces for SONET STS-12 and STS-48 protocols and access logic such asprotocol-independent framers, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) framers,packet-over-SONET (POS) interfaces and framers for HDLC for InternetProtocol (IP).
Designers can also use the device to drive high-speed data transfer across a backplane within a system, such as a PCI-to-PCI halfbridge or a customer-proprietary interface. The ORT4622 interface is basedupon SONET to allow for system functions such as insertion/extraction ofin-band control and link degrade information with only 3.3% of overhead, allof which can be transparent to the user if not used.
The standard-cell portion of Lucent's FPSCs houses functions that areestablished in communications systems and require high bandwidth, such asthe 64-bit, 66 MHz PCI and the 622 Mbps and 2.5 gbps SONET interfacesoffered in these new products. The field-programmable portion can house adesigner's own logic or Lucent's intellectual property cores, such as ATMand IP interfaces, to customize the particular communications system. Itretains all the features of the ORCA Series 3 FPGA architecture includingback-end interfaces that conform to UTOPIA III speeds (5.0ns clock-to-out,2.0ns setup, 0.0ns hold), a built-in microprocessor interface forMotorola/IBM PowerPC or Intel i960, and a pair of built-in PLL/DLLs.
The devices are fabricated in Lucent's quarter-micron CMOS technology, andoperate at 2.5 volts with five-volt tolerant 3.3-volt I/Os. They will beavailable in December, 1999. ORCA Foundry beta software for both devices isavailable now, with a production version scheduled for January 2000.Fourth-quarter 2000 unit pricing for the ORT4622 in a 432EBGA package willbe US$98.30 in 25K quantities, and fourth-quarter 2000 unit pricing for theOR3LP26B in a 352EBGA package will be $76.00 in 25K quantities.
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
Murray Hill, N.J.
www.lucent.com
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