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Technology Stocks : PMC-Sierra (PMCS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tech101 who wrote (2264)	11/28/1998 8:38:00 AM
From: Bulldozer	Respond to of 3818

Well they're the only semi company in SATURN because they co-founded the group! As far as the next crown jewel, I believe its connection quality IP CBR in a connection-less structure (ie without a dedicated ATM circuit). This is the goal of all the work being done to merge the qualities of IP and ATM. It will happen and PMC is already there. Remember, they are working very hard to be technology independent. Their continuing relationships with the members of SATURN give them a tremendous advantage. Of course they still have to deliver the goods, and I get the sense, they are. Bulldozer

To: tech101 who wrote (2264)	12/7/1998 5:19:00 PM
From: Tim Michaels	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3818

Youlu/Bulldozer Let me see if I can add anything helpful to your colorful discussion of Vitesse vs. PMC. To begin with Sonet and ATM are two different technologies. Sonet is a transport technology while ATM is a switching technology. Furthermore, Sonet requires channelization because the main function of Sonet is the transport of voice (I will disucss data in a minute). Therefore, the main functionality of Sonet PHY devices are to serialize parallel bit streams at higher speeds (multiplexing). The value Vitesse brings to the table is the ability to use GaAs to handle 2.5 gpbs and above data streams. The Company's real competition here is AMCC who claims to have OC-48 parts out in silicon bipolar (without a price advantage to Vitesse-I might add). Handling data is a different story, particularly with ATM. The way the voice network handles data today is by providing pipes (ie. DS1) for transport of data between pieces of equipment that is designed to handle data (ie. routers), or connecting different LANs together into a WAN (such as when you want to connect a LAN in San Francisco with one in New York). ATM was developed as a way of breaking up streams of data and handling them as packets (ie. envelopes), in a similar fashion to the ethernet concept. The problem is how to place the data into pipes of bandwidth, such as Sonet. Here is where PMC comes in. Part of the process of seamlessly integrating ATM into Sonet (for POS) is to incorporate what is referred to as a UTOPIA interface. This interface acts like a toll booth that shuttles the packets of data onto the Sonet highway. This is the technology developed by PMC, along with the Saturn development group. PMC has a full command, and monopoly of, the UTOPIA functionality. The only way to interface this UTOPIA functionality into Sonet is by doing what is called concatenation, which means the Sonet payload that handles ATM pakcets is not channelized, but concatenated, or linked together. You do not have visibility down to the voice channel, as you do with channelized, so you will not have both voice and ATM in the same Sonet signal (a whole lengthy discussion, but the bottom line is that DS3s become STS-1, which are then byte interleaved into 3 STS-1s for OC-3, 12 STS-1s for OC-12, etc. so one OC-3 can either be channelized-with voice- or concatentated-with ATM- but not both). Concatenated is one big fat pipe that lets that ATM packets onto the Sonet network. Concatenated Sonet channels are designated by a "c" after the Sonet designation. ie. OC-3c. So what you will have happening is an OC-48 signal that has both concatenated and channelized OC-3 channels all on one OC-48 pipe, which will separate out the voice and data traffic. Actually, both companies work together to incorporate both the OC-48 speeds of Vitesse chips with the UTOPIA interface of the PMC chip to provide a full OC-48 interface to an ATM switch. The two really do not compete with each other. Even PMC's Sonet revenues do not compete with Vitesse. PMC markets what are known as mapper devices that map the Sonet overhead channels onto the underlying asynchronous channels. Hope this helps. Tim