Standard DSL Chips? OEMs rally behind G.Lite, despite difficulties
November 25, 1998
ELECTRONIC BUYERS NEWS via NewsEdge
Corporation : Las Vegas- Major PC makers
began to throw their weight behind the new
Digital Subscriber Line standard for the
masses at the Comdex trade show here last
week, but OEMs and chip manufacturers are
still wrestling with significant problems.
Compaq Computer Corp. is the first major
OEM to announce a DSL-enabled PC that
supports the new standard for the consumer
market, G.992.2, or G.Lite. Compaq's PC uses
a hybrid chipset from Lucent Technologies
Inc. that combines G.Lite and V.90
analog-modem capabilities. Other large PC
makers also plan to ship G.Lite-enabled
systems in the near future.
Meanwhile, Texas Instruments Inc.,
GlobeSpan Semiconductor Inc., and a host of
other chip suppliers at Comdex were rushing
out a dizzying array of new DSL devices and
architectures, most of which are proprietary
and incompatible, despite the industry's new
standards. Some DSL chip makers are
pre-announcing their products for shipment
in late 1999 or beyond.
OEMs in many cases will be hard-pressed to
find competitive chipsets today that provide
interoperability for both central-office and
modem applications. OEMs must generally
source their DSL chipsets from only one
vendor to ensure compatibility.
"Interoperability is still a big problem in the
DSL industry," said Dwight Decker, president
of Conexant Systems Inc. (formerly Rockwell
Semiconductor Systems Inc.), a DSL chipset
supplier in Newport Beach, Calif. "Even
though we've established the G.Lite
standard, the industry is just beginning to
address the interoperability-testing issues."
"Fundamental problems with the
telecommunications infrastructure is another
reason why the DSL market is not taking off
as fast as chip makers and OEMs had hoped,"
said Armando Geday, president and chief
executive of GlobeSpan Semiconductor, Red
Bank, N.J.
"I'm optimistic about DSL technology, but I'm
also realistic about what it will take to deploy
this technology," Geday said. "On the
customer-premise side, the splitterless issue
has been solved. We also have robust
modems in the market that have been tested
under barbed-wire conditions. The real issue
with DSL is the signaling problems over
existing phone wires. "
Last week, GlobeSpan announced new
capabilities for its DSL chipset lines, including
support for G.Lite and other standards.
Paris-based Alcatel, meanwhile, has licensed
its full-rate ADSL chips to Japan's Toshiba
Corp. In late 1999, Toshiba will bring out its
own ADSL chipset, including a G.Lite line.
Alcatel in the past year has licensed its ADSL
technology to other companies in the hope
of propelling an interoperability
standard-albeit its own. Alcatel's licensees
include Advanced Micro Devices Inc.,
Integrated Telecom Express Inc., and
STMicroelectronics.
Alcatel's U.S. telecommunications rival,
Lucent, last week took another tack by
quietly announcing a chipset and DSL access
multiplexer (DSLAM) equipment for
central-office applications that will work in
conjunction with its own, hybrid G.Lite/V.90
chips.
The chipset, called the DSP 16270, is based
on the company's existing DSL technology,
dubbed WildWire. "Clearly, we have an
advantage in the DSL market," said Graig
Garen, general manager of modem and
multimedia products for Lucent's
Microelectronics Group, Berkeley Heights,
N.J. " Seventy percent of the central-office
equipment in the U.S. is supplied by Lucent.
So if you have a strong central-office
strategy, then you'll have strong client
strategy in DSL."
Most of the attention at Comdex, however,
was centered on Compaq's new Presario
5100c, considered the first G.Lite-enabled
PC. Built around Lucent's DSP 1690 chipset
and DMT (discrete multitone) technology
from Aware Inc., Bedford, Mass., Compaq's
PC is "the world's first broadband-ready
Internet PC, " said Alex Gruzen, director of
Internet services at Houston-based Compaq.
Dell Computer Corp., Round Rock, Texas, last
week announced a deal to provide
DSL-enabled PCs to US West, which is
offering DSL services to customers in 13
states. Dell's DSL-capable PCs use internal
modems made by Cisco Systems Inc., which,
in turn, incorporate chipsets from Analog
Devices Inc. and GlobeSpan.
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and a number of other
companies are soon expected to ship
G.Lite-enabled products, according to
analysts.
[Copyright 1998, CMP Publications]
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