Quake sampling monolithic 10-Gbit/sec transceiver for Ethernet and Fibre Channel

November 21, 2002--Quake Technologies, Inc. (www.quaketech.com), a fabless semiconductor company specializing in physical layer, mixed signal ICs for 10- and 40-Gbit/sec optical networks, has announced availability of samples of the QT2021, its second-generation monolithic transceiver for 10.3-Gbit/sec IEEE 802.3ae Ethernet and 10.57-Gbit/sec Fibre Channel applications.

The QT2021's jitter performance and rise and fall times have been improved by 50 percent over the company's previous QT2020 device. These dynamics allow a greater than 65 percent eye margin over the IEEE and Fibre Channel requirements. The QT2021 also consumes 1.5 W less power than the QT2020.

The QT2021 is compliant with XENPAK, as well as newer XPAK, X2, and XFP multi-source agreements for next-generation 10-Gbit/sec module form factors. The QT2021's open compatibility ensures network equipment manufacturers can easily integrate the QT2021 into modules or directly onto their line cards.

"With the ratification and improvement of industry standards and agreements, and the demonstrated interoperability between Quake and other key 10 Gbit/sec vendors such as PMC-Sierra, Texas Instruments, and Velio Communications, enterprises now have a heightened confidence in deploying 10-Gig into data and storage networks," said Dan Trepanier, president and CEO of Quake Technologies.

As with the QT2020, the QT2021 integrates the main physical layer functions (PHY) of the receiver and transmitter onto a single chip. The QT2021 benefits from an advanced SiGe BiCMOS process technology for optimal performance, high level of integration, and low power consumption delivered reliably over the full range of operating temperature and voltage. Quake's electrical fiber-side output features low jitter mux output retiming and variable voltage line driving and exhibits excellent crosstalk isolation, according to the company.

The QT2021 also features adjustable XAUI and 10-Gbit/sec fiber side output levels. Its clock and data recovery (CDR) unit requires no external reference clocks, with both fiber-side and XAUI-side CDRs requiring only signals at the normal data input channels. The QT2021 can act as a diagnostic optical monitoring (DOM) device to measure and report the state of the optical components, or can interface to another DOM device.

The QT2021 is footprint compatible with the QT2020, allowing seamless migration for module or line card designers to plug in either generation transceiver to their current designs. The QT2021 can be ordered in either 19x19 mm² or 15x15 mm² package sizes.

Samples of the QT2021 are available priced at $500 each for quantities of 1,000. Full production of the QT2021 is planned for Q3 2003.