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To: janski who wrote (14194)	2/9/1998 2:00:00 PM
From: Craig Stevenson	Respond to of 29386

A couple of quotes of interest from the Rambus/LSI (Brocade) release: "Brocade Communications Systems (SanJose, Calif.), a leader in Fibre Channel switching systems, uses Rambus technology in the ASIC of its SilkWorm(TM) FL_Port Option Card. The ASIC uses a two-channel Base Rambus implementation, and provides greater than 450 Mbytes per second of bandwidth from each ASIC. The card provides two ports for connecting two individual Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loops that can support up to 126 devices each. The SilkWorm switch creates a fabric - a communications infrastructure for networking servers and storage - which is the essential element for the development of Server-Storage Area Networks (SANs). "Brocade chose Rambus technology primarily because it was the most cost-effective solution," said Paul Bonderson, vice president of engineering. "An equivalent-bandwidth SDRAM solution would have required 58 more pins on the ASIC, and the lack of available 'by 9' organization would have required more parts, increasing both cost and real estate. In addition, Brocade was the first company to use this technology in the 500K process with LSI Logic, and Rambus did a wonderful job supporting us from the beginning to the end of the project." "The first substantiation is ThunderSWITCH II, a nine-port Fast Ethernet and gigabit-Ethernet-capable switch-on-a-chip that leverages Rambus' 600-MHz Concurrent technology." Regarding the first quote, there is still no concrete indication whether Brocade really has working silicon for A/L, but it seems safe to assume that they do. (Or soon will.) The second quote is interesting because they claim nine ports on a chip. (This was rumored to be impossible. <g>) Craig

To: janski who wrote (14194)	2/9/1998 2:42:00 PM
From: Jay Quinty	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29386

Here's a snip from the press release: Brocade Communications Systems (San Jose, Calif.), a leader in Fibre Channel switching systems, uses Rambus technology in the ASIC of its SilkWorm(TM) FL_Port Option Card. The ASIC uses a two-channel Base Rambus implementation, and provides greater than 450 Mbytes per second of bandwidth from each ASIC. The card provides two ports for connecting two individual Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loops that can support up to 126 devices each. The SilkWorm switch creates a fabric - a communications infrastructure for networking servers and storage - which is the essential element for the development of Server-Storage Area Networks (SANs). ''Brocade chose Rambus technology primarily because it was the most cost-effective solution,'' said Paul Bonderson, vice president of engineering. ''An equivalent-bandwidth SDRAM solution would have required 58 more pins on the ASIC, and the lack of available 'by 9' organization would have required more parts, increasing both cost and real estate. In addition, Brocade was the first company to use this technology in the 500K process with LSI Logic, and Rambus did a wonderful job supporting us from the beginning to the end of the project.''