Petz - Re: "Intel's FABS and non-CPU products.
Here is another example of how Intel makes use of their FAB capacity - for making non-CPU chips.
Paul
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techweb.com
June 08, 1998, TechWeb News
Networking Chips -- Controller
downsized -- Intel shrinks Fast
Ethernet silicon
By Loring Wirbel
Hillsboro, Ore. - Intel Corp. has transferred its Medium Access
Control/transceiver chip for Fast Ethernet to a 0.35-micron CMOS
process, reducing the size of the chip by 75 percent, even while
adding logic for Alert On LAN functions. The 82559 controller is
optimized for use in CardBus PC Card applications as well as LAN
On Motherboard uses in desktop computers.
Interfaces for the new controller are 3.3 V but 5-V-tolerant, offering
typical power dissipation of 0.412 W at 3.3 V or 2.25 W at 5 V. A
special sleep mode takes current drain down to less than 5 mA at
3.3 V. Intel has shifted the controller to a ball-grid-array package
measuring 15 mm2 for optimal use in PC Card and other
small-form-factor designs.
Intel's network products division now can call upon the power of two
Ethernet-chip architectures. The recent acquisition of Digital
Semiconductor brought along that company's 211xx Fast Ethernet
controller line. Taizoon Doctor, OEM sales and marketing manager
in Intel's networking group, said that the 21143 in particular fills
interesting application niches not addressed by Intel's internal
Ethernet line. The company is preserving the numbering of the
Digital Semiconductor family, though the branding is rapidly shifting
to Intel.
While the 211xx family is good in some desktop and hub
applications, the 82559 and its predecessor, the 82558, are Intel's
primary thrusts into desktop and server PC markets. Both controllers
integrate digital-MAC and analog-transceiver functions, requiring
only physical-layer magnetics and a handful of discretes to
implement a full Ethernet interface.
The new chip supports both Alert On LAN and Wake On LAN, two
functions that Intel developed in conjunction with IBM Corp. They
allow an Ethernet node to be managed and alarms to be sent in a
low-power state, even before the OS has been loaded and the
system has been booted up. The original Alert On LAN functions
were offered last January in an ASIC by Intel and IBM, but all
functions now have been integrated into the 82559.
In addition to a standard CardBus interface, Intel has added logic for
easy implementation of combined functions on a single card, such
as an Ethernet interface and analog modem.
The chip supports all layers of the Wired for Management 1.1 spec.
Intel will not provide pricing until the 82559 is in full production this
fall, but it will offer samples to customers this summer.
Call (408) 765-8080
www.intel.com
EETInfo No. 600
Copyright r 1998 CMP Media Inc.
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