JUNE 9, 2008 -- Ekinops (search for Ekinops) has taken the wraps off the T-Chip, an IC which it says encompasses all transport functionality in a single device. The company will show off the device a next week's NXTcomm conference in Las Vegas.
The T-Chip, "in development for several years" according to the systems house, is being introduced for Ekinops' flagship product platform, the Ekinops 360, and its line of application modules. The Ekinops 360 is a carrier-class optical transport platform for metro, regional, and long-haul CWDM and DWDM networks.
The T-Chip can be programmed for virtually any type of functionality, Ekinops says; because the company has embedded all the intelligence for handling all existing protocols into the device, interactivity and interoperability between the protocols is simplified, the company claims. Combined with fully programmable line and client protocols, the T-Chip enables Ekinops to produce "unprecedented" protocol gateways such as the already available LAN PHY to WAN PHY capability, according to the company.
Ekinops also will be able to port features from one platform to another thanks to the T-Chip, and any newly developed feature becomes automatically available to all the transport platforms via line card changes or in-field software upgrades. The company expects the T-Chip will enable it to deliver new protocol support ahead of industry chip sets, such as a soon-to-be-announced video transport feature.
"Carriers want and need technology that enables them to provide services today but also positions them to move rapidly to new generations of services tomorrow, and the T-Chip provides just that," said Didier Bredy, CEO of Ekinops. "By incorporating the T-Chip into our equipment, we can deliver that equipment more quickly and cost-effectively to our carrier and enterprise customers, assuring them of the ultimate in upgradeability as it becomes necessary."
The first Ekinops product to be shipped with the T-Chip is a video module that will be introduced at NXTcomm.
In its own tests, Ekinops says it has seen the T-Chip reduce power consumption by as much as 40 percent compared with existing equipment. The T-Chip also provides "future protection" for Ekinops customers, because virtually any technology that carriers or enterprises want to migrate to can be provided quickly via the T-Chip, and in many cases, will come via a simple firmware upgrade, the company concludes.
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