NEWS BRIEFS
Camarillo, CA — Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation and Power X Ltd. launched an initiative to create a joint hardware reference platform to demonstrate the advanced features of their respective communication integrated circuits: Power X’s TeraChannel switch fabric and Vitesse’s TeraPOWER-CL network communications processor IC.
Since late 1998, XaQti Corporation, which was recently acquired by Vitesse, and Power X have been working closely to ensure interoperability of their devices. At a logical design level, the companies have shared hardware description language (HDL) models to enable system-level co-simulation and verification. This ensures the highest levels of design interoperability, promoting “plug and play” silicon building blocks to network OEM system designers.
This announcement extends the nature of the relationship to include the creation of a joint hardware reference platform to prove the interoperation of the devices in a real world environment. Based around a 19-inch chassis employing TeraChannel as the interconnect fabric, the reference platform will incorporate a number of TeraPOWER-CL powered line cards connected through a midplane to the central high performance switch fabric. The platform has been designed both to prove the plug and play interoperability of chips and to provide network system customers with a quick start for the development of their own systems.
“Power X and Vitesse have spent many man months of effort developing the CSIX (Common Switch Interface) specifications to promote plug and play silicon solutions for network switch and router applications,” said Barry Sandefur, vice president of advanced networking products at Vitesse. “Our joint initiative to provide the hardware reference platform is intended to provide our network customers with a convenient interoperability verification and development platform for their switch and router designs. This is an important step toward satisfying our customers’ time to market goals.”
For more information visit: http://www.px.uk.com , http://www.vitesse.com or http://www.csix.org
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