OFF TOPIC--somewhat
Below is a press release from GALT regarding their
building-block chips covering LAN to ATM connection.
Note that they have included an interface to Maker
Communications ATM switch.
What does NN have going in this direction presently?
Best wishes,
Jim
GALT : GALILEO TECHNOLOGY (NASDAQ)
All Headlines
Galileo Unveils GalNet-3 Architecture Family
Advanced Voice/Data Switching Architecture Eliminates Barriers to Converged Local and Wide Area Networks
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 1999--Galileo Technology (Nasdaq: GALT) today announced the revolutionary GalNet-3 architecture family of converged voice/data network switch processors.
The first products in the family support wire speed switching of voice and data traffic over Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and Packet-over-SONET. These products will enable the creation of advanced Layer 3/4/5 voice and data switches for the enterprise, workgroup, backbone and the Internet.
"GalNet-3 represents the first time that the needs of both data communications and telecommunications switching have been unified in the same device," said Avigdor Willenz, CEO of Galileo Technology. "The advanced technology found in GalNet-3 will usher in a new era of converged voice/data switches featuring merchant silicon."
Willenz continued: "We recognized some time ago, that Quality-of-Service alone wouldn't provide a solution for replacing circuit based telephony networks. This realization drove us to develop critical new capabilities found in the GalNet-3 architecture. Over time, these capabilities will touch every Galileo product line, as we enable the ultimate convergence of voice, video and data."
New Switching Technology
The GalNet-3 family of converged voice/data switch processors represents an entirely new class of network switching ICs designed to handle the unique needs of mission-critical converged voice/data networks. By providing each type of traffic with dedicated switching bandwidth, GalNet-3 based systems can enable true converged networks without compromise.
Traditional switch ICs maintain the historical Ethernet "best effort" methodology when it comes to transporting data. Most advanced datacom switches support some level of traffic prioritization, or "quality-of-service."
Such switches, however, make no absolute guarantees regarding the availability of switching bandwidth for specific traffic flows. During heavily loaded conditions it is entirely possible that voice traffic may get dropped in favor of other high-priority traffic. By comparison, telecom networks use dedicated circuits for voice traffic to ensure both the availability of bandwidth and a minimum level of quality for the connection.
"We looked at the circuit based telecom infrastructure as the minimum requirement for converged networks," said Mitch Kahn, vice president of market development for Galileo. "Today's early efforts at converged networks are lacking two of the key features we take for granted in voice networks.
"First is guaranteed availability, the notion that you will have a dial tone when you pick up the phone. Second is guaranteed consistent quality, the promise that your connection quality won't be unpredictable over time. It's not enough for converged networks to deliver cellular phone quality, they must deliver a true replacement to the wired telecom infrastructure as it exists today."
GalNet-3 successfully solves the problems of guaranteed availability and guaranteed continuous quality and allows OEMs to build, for the first time, network switches that can truly merge voice and data without compromise.
Availability-of-Service
One of the cornerstones of the GalNet-3 architecture is the concept of Availability-of-Service(TM), or AoS(TM). While quality-of-service (QoS) attempts to simply guarantee the priority of data packets, AoS goes further by guaranteeing both the priority and the availability of network bandwidth whenever it is needed for a given service.
AoS works by reserving bandwidth within the switch for specific flows of data. For example, a voice-over-IP session (phone call) can be considered a flow for which GalNet-3 would reserve bandwidth within the switch.
"It is simply a myth that QoS alone can solve the problems of converged voice/data networks," continued Kahn. "When a QoS-only switch is bombarded by high-priority traffic, all the traffic will suffer, voice included. With a GalNet-3 AoS-enabled switch, the voice traffic will have guaranteed bandwidth, regardless of other high-priority traffic."
The implementation of AoS borrows the ideas of traffic policing and input rate conformance checking from the ATM world.
But unlike ATM based voice circuits, GalNet-3 can make bandwidth reservation decisions on a packet-by-packet basis by dynamically reassigning bandwidth as needed. Up to 128,000 different flows can be tracked simultaneously, with either strict or flexible limits set for flow policing.
This capability allows the switch to absorb temporary surges in a given traffic flow, while still honoring the guarantees made to all flows.
Advanced Layer 3+ Switching Feature Set
In addition to the voice/data switching features in GalNet-3, the family also represents a leap forward in Layer 3+ LAN switching capability, allowing switch OEMs to build equipment at the cutting edge of the Layer 3+ market.
Systems based on GalNet-3 will have the following features:
-- Full wire speed Layer 2/3/4/5 switching with a maximum port
density of 256 10/100 Ethernet ports and up to 32 Gigabit
Ethernet or Packet-over-SONET/SDH ports;
-- IPv4 and IPX Layer 3 switching in hardware with peak routing
performance in excess of 40 million packets per second;
-- Support for 64,000 IP/IPX routes;
-- IP Multicast routing in hardware;
-- Sophisticated Layer 2/3/4/5 flow classifier and bandwidth
reservation engine with support for up to 128,000 flows;
-- Hardware firewall capability that traps or drops suspicious
traffic flows;
-- External Hardware Interface (EHI) Port that allows networking
OEMs to provide value-added differentiation by connecting custom
hardware (such as ASICs or network processors) directly into the
GalNet-3 switching engine;
-- Software and hardware compatibility with the industry's most
successful commercial Layer 2 switching chipset: GalNet-II;
-- Advanced Layer 2 switching capabilities that support the latest
IEEE standards including Spanning Tree per VLAN,
Protocol-Sensitive VLANs, and 802.1AD Link Aggregation (port
trunking);
-- Self-learning of more than 64,000 Layer 2 addresses;
-- Full implementation of the IEEE 802.1Q VLAN standard with 4096
VLANs supported;
-- Link fault tolerance that can rapidly reconfigure the switch in
the case of a trunked port failure;
-- Support for fault-tolerant stacking at 3 Gbps over Category 5
copper cabling without the use of expensive 1000BaseTX PHYs;
-- Built-in support for SNMP and RMON compatible with agents already
written for GalNet-II
"GalNet-3 is a no compromise Layer 3 switching solution," said Kahn. "The feature set in GalNet-3 will enable our customers to build systems with a level of features, performance and modularity unheard of today -- even from the leaders in the Layer 3+ systems market.
"And the scalability of the architecture makes GalNet-3 applicable to advanced workgroup switches, enterprise backbone switches and Internet core IP switches."
Natural Upgrade for GalNet-II Systems
GalNet-3 provides backward compatibility for both hardware and software with the widely popular GalNet-II architecture family, Galileo's industry-leading Layer 2 switching chipset. Backward compatibility allows OEMs to re-use much of their software investment in GalNet-II, thereby saving many man-years of development time.
"Customers who have already developed software for GalNet-II will find that they are well on their way to a solution for GalNet-3 based systems," said Moshe Steiner, vice president and general manager of Galileo's LAN Switching Division. "Our competitors' Layer 3 solutions require the OEM to throw away their old software and start over.
"With the complex software required for Layer 3 switches, this just doesn't make sense from the standpoint of time-to-market or development cost."
Another unique feature of GalNet-3 is its ability to field-upgrade existing GalNet-II installations. One or more GalNet-3 devices can be used within a GalNet-II based fabric to provide both voice and Layer 3/4/5 switching functions.
Applications for this capability include:
-- GalNet-3 based slide-in modules for existing GalNet-II switches;
-- Using a GalNet-3 based switch in a stack of GalNet-II based
systems via Galileo's G.Link stacking interconnect;
-- Desktop Layer 3 switches built using GalNet-II+ devices that call
upon a single GalNet-3 device in the system as a "routing server."
"We see GalNet-II+ and GalNet-3 systems working seamlessly together to build the future converged voice/data network," said Kahn. "GalNet-II+ based systems provide the essential Layer 3 prioritization needed for workgroups without adding the complexity of Layer 3 switching.
"In the enterprise backbone, GalNet-3 based systems provide the sophisticated Layer 3+ and voice/data switching capabilities where they are most needed."
Three New Switch Processors
The GalNet-3 Family will initially consist of three converged voice/data network switch processor products with different physical port capabilities:
-- The GT-48510 provides 8-ports of 10/100 Ethernet with RMII PHY
interface;
-- The GT-48520 provides a single port of Gigabit Ethernet with both
GMII and PCS interfaces; the GT-48520 supports both fiber optic
and copper media;
-- The GT-48540 provides a single port of Packet-over-SONET running
at up to the OC-12 (622 Mbps) rate.
All three devices will make use of existing GalNet-II hybrid crossbar devices. This modular approach supports a variety of port speeds and densities ranging from standalone and stackable switches, to pure gigabit and chassis based switches supporting up to 256 ports of Fast Ethernet and 32 ports of gigabit Ethernet or Packet-over-SONET.
First Broadband WAN Product from Galileo
The GT-48540 device marks Galileo's entry into the broadband WAN market and the expansion of the GalNet switching architecture into the Internet core. The GT-48540 supports Packet-over-SONET at both the OC-3 (155 Mbps) and OC-12 (622 Mbps) rates.
A Packet-over-SONET PHY interface provides connectivity to a variety of off-the-shelf SONET physical layer devices. Per-flow billing counters allow GalNet-3 to be an effective solution for IP switching in the telecom core.
"The Packet-over-SONET capability in GalNet-3 appeals to the designers of several different types of systems," said Eitan Medina director of product architecture for Galileo's switching products.
"For example, enterprise Layer 3 switches are now using Packet-over-SONET as a high-bandwidth uplink to the WAN, replacing slower links such as T3/E3. Designers of Internet core routers can make use of the Availability-of-Service and per-flow billing features in GalNet-3 to build very attractive OC-12 switching solutions."
Partnership With Maker Communications Adds ATM Support
Galileo has partnered with Maker Communications to provide seamless connectivity between GalNet-3 and ATM running at up to the OC-12 rate (622 Mbps). The GT-48540 device includes the ability to connect gluelessly to the Maker MXT4400 Traffic Stream Processor.
The MXT4400 provides ATM processing capability for a variety of GalNet-3 applications including ATM uplinks from Layer 3 Ethernet switches and mixed ATM/Packet-over-SONET switches. Special messaging support was added to GalNet-3 to preserve important virtual circuit information between the ATM and Ethernet domains.
"We are excited about the opportunities created by the combination of GalNet-3 and our MXT4400 Traffic Stream Processor," said Tom Medrek, vice president of marketing for Maker Communications. "We feel ATM connectivity will be a key differentiator for GalNet-3, and we are pleased to be the partner to provide it."
Comprehensive Software and Reference Design Support
"Software can represent up to 80% of the effort in designing a Layer 3 switch," commented Kahn. "With the GalNet-3 family we wanted to reduce the time-to-market for our OEM customers by providing off-the-shelf software solutions. This is why we have partnered with RADLAN Computer Communications Ltd., one of the leaders in merchant Layer 3/4/5 software."
RADLAN will be offering a variety of products for GalNet-3 including their award winning Routing Operating System (ROS) that is part of their Network Routing System (NRS). NRS includes full support for IP/IPX routing, OSPF, IP Multicast, the latest in AoS, QoS, and security technologies, as well as advanced applications such as load balancing, voice-over-IP and virtual private networks.
"RADLAN is pleased to partner with Galileo to provide the industry's most comprehensive solution for Layer 3/4/5 switching systems," said Eli Fux, vice president of marketing for RADLAN. "RADLAN's NRS takes full advantage of the advanced features of the GalNet-3 family, allowing switch OEMs designing with GalNet-3 and our NRS, to bring richly featured Layer 3/4/5 systems to market with unprecedented speed."
Galileo will be offering a variety of reference systems for GalNet-3 including voice/data blades for the recently announced 240 port Annapurna chassis reference design. A full software driver suite and API will be made available to GalNet-3 customers, as well.
Price and Availability
The GT-48510 is packaged in a 329 ball PBGA and general samples will be available in January 2000. General sampling of the GT-48520 and GT-48540 will be in March of 2000. Both are packaged in the 329 ball PBGA. The GT-48510 and GT-48520 devices will be $96 in 10K quantities. The GT-48540 will be $150 in 10K quantities.
Evaluation board availability and pricing will be announced separately.
About Galileo Technology Ltd.
Galileo Technology, a market leader in Communication Systems on Silicon, is one of the semiconductor industry's fastest growing suppliers of complex, high-performance, integrated circuit devices. Galileo's products include advanced communication switch controllers, high-performance system controllers for RISC processors and WAN communication controllers.
Galileo's products form the heart of many advanced data communications systems built by leading OEMs, such as Accton, Cisco Systems, D-Link, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Lucent, NBase and Nortel Networks.
Galileo employs more than 250 people worldwide with business headquarters in San Jose, and R&D headquarters in Moshav Manof, Israel. For more information on Galileo, call 888/GALTEK-1 or visit the company's Web site at galileot.com.
Note to Editors: GalNet is a registered trademark and Communication Systems on Silicon is a trademark of Galileo Technology.
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