NORWOOD, Mass., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE:ADI) today announced it has begun shipping production-level DMT-ADSL chipsets in high-volume to leading telecommunications, data communications equipment and modem manufacturers worldwide, the first semiconductor maker to do so. Analog Devices' AD20msp910 is a highly integrated, cost-effective ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) chipset that promises to push the speed of data transmission over existing copper telephone lines to 8 Mbps -- 60 times faster than ISDN and more than 200 times faster than 33.6 kbps voice- channel modems. The standards (ANSI T1.413, ETSI TR238, ITU G.adsl) compliant chipset combines all the functions and essential software required for implementing a complete ADSL modem, including a DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone) co-processor, analog front end, line driver, host processor, interface/framer, and all software for both datapump and microcontroller functions. "Analog Devices' chipset is designed-in by nearly every major manufacturer of xDSL equipment, ensuring it will be the benchmark by which other chipsets will be measured," said Russ Johnsen, Vice President and General Manager of Analog Devices' Communications Division. "We anticipate others will develop chipsets based on the proven signal processing technology we pioneered and announced nearly a year ago. Alternate-source products will help second- and third-tier customers drive ADSL technology more quickly into people's homes and onto the backbone of world's telephone infrastructure. But Analog Devices is the only manufacturer with core competencies in the three technologies most critical to ADSL: mixed-signal data conversion, digital signal processing, and power management." The AD20msp910 chipset is currently designed into equipment that improves up/downstream subscriber access of data, voice and video from ADC Telecommunications, Advanced Fibre Communications, Ascend Communications, DSC Communications, Efficient Networks, Ericsson, Hayes Microcomputer Products, Pairgain Technologies, Philips, Pulsecom, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and TelTrend. Reflecting their advocacy of DMT as the ADSL technology standard, the Analog Devices chipset is compliant with standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as well as related standards set by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The chipset, in volume quantities, is available for $65, well below the $80 price projected when initial samples were offered five months ago. Cooperatively developed with software and technology partner Aware Inc., the AD20msp910 chipset is bundled with data pump firmware and additional software to provide a full protocol stack for data control and management. The result is a complete solution with user-programmability. The AD20msp910 is rate adaptive, assessing each line's condition and transport capacity to optimize throughput. The AD20msp910 automatically adapts to special line parameters and noisy environments and offers a low- noise solution when neighborhood wires are within the same cable trunk. With its high speed, simple deployment and preservation of "lifeline" voice services, ADSL technology is an efficient remedy for the data communications bottlenecks created by the growing popularity of the Internet.
About Aware, Inc. Aware (NASDAQ:AWRE), headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, is a leader in "last-mile" technology for broadband communications and high speed access to the Internet. The company's products allow users to maximize use of scarce bandwidth resources for transmitting digitized data. Aware is developing ADSL technology, software, modules and modems for high-speed, interactive broadband network applications.
About Analog Devices With sales of $1.2 billion for fiscal 1996, Analog Devices is a leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications. Analog's Communications Division focuses on products for wireless and broadband wired communications applications. Headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, the company employs approximately 7,200 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, the Philippines and Taiwan. For more information contact:
Analog Devices, Inc. Ray Stata Technology Center 804 Woburn Street Wilmington, MA 01887 Tel: 617-937-1428 Fax: 617-821-4273 Or visit our web site at analog.com |