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Technology Stocks : ADI: The SHARCs are circling! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (1298)	9/7/1999 12:57:00 PM
From: Jim Oravetz	Respond to of 2882

3Com alliance moves Analog Devices deeper into 56-Kbit modems A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted 9:15 a.m. EST/6:15 a.m., PST, 9/7/99 By J. Robert Lineback NORWOOD, Mass. -- Analog Devices Inc. and 3Com Corp. today announced the joint development of a two-chip set for controllerless V.90 modems operating at 56-kilobits per second in personal computers. The modem chip set consists of a highly-integrated data pump IC that interfaces directly to a new silicon data access arrangement (DAA) device, which eliminates the need for other discrete components and a transformer to isolate PC modems from the telephone network. Starting in September, 3Com plans to use the two-chip set to sell 56-Kilobit/sec. modem solutions to major PC manufacturers. The AD1807/1804 chip set provides a complete "WinModem" from the RJ-11 telephone jack to the host PCI interface, said Analog Devices, which has partnered with 3Com on modem ICs for more than three years. Santa Clara, Calif.-based 3Com will have exclusive use of the two-chip set solution for a certain amount of time under its development pact with Analog Devices. A separate voice codec IC--the AD1803--is also available with the two-chip set for modem applications requiring voice and data path communications. "Analog Devices is making a big move into the V.90 modem space, and they've been able to put together the right package for the 3Com code--complete with memory and a DAA too," observed analyst Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts of Tempe, Ariz. With a growing share of 3Com's business, Analog Devices is expected to claim about 10% of the industry's total 70 million unit V.90 modem shipments in 1999, Strauss said. "That's up from nearly zero [in recent years] to nearly 8 million units this year," he added. Analog Devices' expanded partnership with 3Com--the leading supplier of 56-Kbit modem solutions--comes as a time when the battle between chip makers is intensifying in the V.90 marketplace. Strauss estimates that about 89 million V.90 modems will be shipped next year, but revenues continue to be eroded by intense pricing competition between the leaders--Conexant, Texas Instruments and Lucent. "A year and a half ago a V.90 chip set was selling for $55 each in high-volume quantities, but now its in the sub-$10 range," he said. Analog Devices hopes its partnership with 3Com will enable to grab more sockets and drive down the costs with higher levels of chip integration. Fabricated with a 0.25-micron process technology, the AD1807 data pump contains an Analog Devices 2189 digital signal processor (DSP) core, 80-Kbytes of SRAM, 12-Kbytes of ROM, and a special on-chip voltage regulator that maintains a supply voltage of 2.5 volts from an external supply of 5 or 3.3 V. The data pump also contains a special "barrier interface" that enable the AD1804 to connect directly to the DAA device, said Maury Wood, product line director for custom silicon products at Analog Devices. According to Analog Devices, the AD1807/1804 chip set consumes abut 100 milliwatts of power while operating a V.90 connection--a third to one quarter the power of competing solutions. The two-chip set occupies 0.4 square inches of board space and is expected to be offered on PC riser cards for use on motherboards.