modem components- adsl
Posted this over on awre thread (fishing for additional info)... thought some passing thru here might find this interesting as well ... simplistic scorecard (component count) seems to show fujitsu/orctf looking promising... hope they can keep to schedule...
Am inclined to give the edge to those co's who are working on second or third generational stuff (and are working therefore on further integration of proven components). This puts adi, alcatel, and orctf out front... next probably ti (amtx gives them an adsl track record)... and motorola at the back...
if orctf and alcatel can produce, they should be the frontrunners... expect adi to be announcing their third generation (and comparable product to orctf and alcatel third generation) in the near future... and available maybe by the end of the year...
Back to ti.... think ti will get the c6x out midyear... but there's more to their production adsl chipset than this chip alone (c6x is a general purpose chip with many potential uses beyond adsl)... and so far not even a preproduction prototype adsl modem from ti for public consumption...and 3com seems to be making nice to adi... not reassuring...
What follows is more or less my clipboard working summary (need to add pair's falcon and seemingly NEC) .. am including some of the more descriptive links
Depending on who's talking (and their agenda), "adsl modem" seems defined differently in different contexts. Sometimes the transciever alone seems referenced (eg some articles on motorola coppergold), and sometimes other components are counted as well, as long as they are adsl specific (most articles).
Have decided to use the most comprehensive definition- all components needed for a fully functional adsl modem (this means including host processor)... tho am not including memory as this gets particularly complex (and info is scarce), so am not addressing it here...
Believe component count is important as the trend seems to be towards a system on a chip (as opposed to discrete components forming chipset)... a system on a chip will (typically) be more efficient (need less power) and cost less...
Best example of where adsl silicon seems to be headed is adi's new 56k silicon for 3com...
Pulling together info from various adsl articles:
ADI's AD20msp910 chipset
Article from last year lists the 5 components of adi's current AD20msp910 chipset , a "complete" ADSL modem, now shipping:
second generation... can find no news on next generation.... tho some hints have been dropped...
-DMT co-processor: AD6436 DMT coprocessor
-analog front end: AD6437 analog front end
-line driver: AD816 line driver
-interface/framer: AD6435 modem interface (host controller?)
- DSP: ADSP-2183 DSP
"The ADSL transceiver includes an internal V.35 interface, and Ethernet or ATM interfaces can be implemented.." ..doesn't sound like atm functionality is accounted for in chipset (?)
Dsp functionality is handled by a discrete dsp chip ...
techweb.com
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Alcatel's (MTK-20131 series) adsl DynaMiTe modem kit, 3 components, due q1 98:
third generation... seems like chipset to beat...
-DMT modem/linedriver/ATM framer with the Utopia interface (0.35 micron chip)
-analog front end using a 0.5 micron analog process
-controller chip manages the ADSL modem functions
At first glance, seems that alcatel has combined the dmt co-processor, line driver, and interface framer into one chip. Also believe this kit has dsp functionality, probably with a dsp core? Definitely has atm features.
telechoice.com
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Motorola Coppergold..., 3 components
first generation (troubled/delayed)..
as first generation, no early generation released/tested/trialed
- MC14560 ADSL transceiver: DMT processor/analog front end/embedded DSPs
- MC03AX1456CO/RT line driver:
- host coprocessor (controller)
don't know about atm functionality... (does not include memory)..
don't know about dsp functionality.. (seems like probably least of the group)
A different strategy from alcatel... combining dsp/ analog front end with a separate line driver, whereas alcatel is combining dsp/line driver with a separate analog front end...
techweb.com
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TI's c6x adsl... 3-5 components ??
no released news on component count... mostly guesswork below
first generation (delayed once from fall 97... now rescheduled for mid 98)..
as first generation, no early generation released/tested/trialed tho they recently bought amati who has previous adsl silicon experience..)
- c6x: DMT processor/ host processor? (.25 micron)
- analog front end
- line driver ?
- host processor? maybe handled by the c6x...?
the c6x is a very powerful general purpose dsp chip (off the shelf as opposed to asic)... believe TI is counting primarily on software for adsl functionality... It's strength seems to be power and flexibility (undoubtedly most dsp functionality of the lot), its weakness seems to be power consumption (high) and memory requirements ( a lot)
bdti.com
Pat M posted last summer that amtx was "developing its own analog end (exclusive) in conjunction with a small company in the valley." for use with the c6x...
Message 1949981
would be interesting to find out how TI will be dealing with the analog front end... maybe this same amtx connection?
linedriver seems to be a problematic beast... particularly difficult to integrate... so have listed as separate entity
Don't know how atm functionality will be handled (would guess that if it can't be integrated with the linedriver, may have to be a separate component (not listed)
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Fujitsu/orctf ADSL II chip (set) 2 components for complete modem, due q2/3 98
third generation orctf
- dmt modem/atm features/analog front end (0.35 micron CMOS chip)
- microprocessor or microcontroller (by system co)
fujitsu seems to be planning to combine the dmt co-processor, line driver, interface framer, and analog front end into one chip. The chip has dsp functionality handled with a dsp core. Very ambitious... essentially system on a chip... darkhorse for best of class...
Articles describe the fujitsu/orctf solution as a single-chip adsl modem, but go on to say that "to form a complete modem, system companies will need to add a micro-processor or microcontroller, plus some memory..", so have added the microprocessor or microcontroller as a component...
techweb.com
any all comments/corrections welcome
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