networkZONE Products for the week of June 14, 2004
Centilliun Communications Says…
Bullish On Fiber: Centillium Communications Launches
Full Line of Optical Access Solutions for FTTP Market
Centillium Communications Inc. has unveiled its full line
of optical access solutions for the burgeoning Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP)
market
The growing proliferation of bandwidth-hungry applications is driving
demand for carrier-class, broadband access solutions capable of delivering
next-generation integrated voice, data and video services. This increase
in demand is no longer a simple debate over dial-up versus always-on Internet
access, or an issue of DSL versus cable modems. End users have now become
savvy owners of small residential networks with multiple family members
(or co-workers in a SOHO situation) competing for Internet access, throughput
is often an issue. The explosion of content-rich Web sites has also aggravated
this need for bandwidth, and the upcoming wave of internet-enabled residential
appliances does not promise a slowdown on this growing demand.
Fiber optical solutions, in particular Passive Optical Networks (PON), based on either the Ethernet protocol (known as EPON solutions) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode protocol (known as BPON solutions) offer service providers robust and future-proof network architectures that not only break the current bandwidth/distance paradigm but deliver true, triple-play services to customer premises at nearly symmetrical speeds and at more than 100 times those of DSL and cable modems.
"By leveraging our expertise in mixed-signal, System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solutions for high-speed broadband access, Centillium has developed a complete line of silicon products for the FTTP market that offers unparalleled levels of integration, innovation and economics," said Armando Pereira, general manager of Centillium's Optical Business Unit. "As system designers and service providers architect, develop and deploy Passive Optical Networks, Centillium is well positioned to supply innovative solutions to power this next generation of optical access equipment."
Steve Rago, principal analyst, Networking and Optical Practice, for industry research firm iSuppli added, "There are three critical factors that will enable a strong global PON market - interoperability, how fast equipment can come to market and the ultimate cost of equipment. With their high levels of integration, Centillium's Colt and Mustang protocol processors provide OEMs with the building blocks needed to address these issues. When you add the Zeus transceiver chips and their VoIP enabled Unicorn broadband services processor to the mix, we believe that Centillium offers the most complete end-to-end solution for PON CO and CPE."
Unrivaled in its scope, Centillium's first line of PON solutions based on the new IEEE 802.3ah standard offers equipment designers higher integration, broader functionality, smaller footprints and lower power consumption than existing chipsets for both central office (CO) and customer premises equipment (CPE). Initially comprised of four product families, Centillium's highly-integrated EPON product line includes the COLT Optical Line Termination (OLT) family of mixed-signal EPON protocol processors for the CO; the Mustang Optical Network Unit (ONU) family of mixed-signal EPON protocol processors for CPE; the Unicorn Broadband Service Processor family of high-functionality Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP), bridge/routing and security processors for residential gateway applications; and the Zeus Transceiver family of optical burst-mode chipsets for both the CO and CPE.
The COLT Optical Line Termination Family
The first member of Centillium's COLT family, COLT 100 (CT-TPSMT02) is a
highly-integrated, mixed-signal protocol processor solution that combines
a bridge, SerDes/burst mode CDR, CAM and MIPS CPU core into a single, SoC
solution for OLT applications. COLT resides in a line card at the service
provider's central office and directs the traffic to multiple ONUs.
The Mustang Optical Network Unit Family
Designed to operate at the customer premises, Centillium's first-generation
optical CPE solution, the Mustang 100 (CT-TPSMN02) is an integrated, mixed-signal
protocol processor that offers a complementary set of features to Centillium's
COLT processor or any other IEEE 802.3ah standards-compliant, third-party
OLT processor. Mustang 100 includes a bridge, SerDes/CDR, SRAM and a MIPS
CPU core into a single, SoC solution for ONU applications.
The Unicorn Broadband Service Processor Family
Leveraging Centillium's legacy of VoIP innovation, the company's Unicorn
family of Broadband Services Processors provides a value-add option for
carriers looking to deploy advanced broadband services, such as VoIP and
security, in a home gateway. The family's first offering, Unicorn 100 (CT-TNNMN01-TP),
combines a network processor, a powerful DSP voice engine and Internet Protocol
Security with a host of physical interfaces to support services such as
Internet telephony (VoIP), Virtual Private Networks and even 802.11a/b/g
wireless networking via an additional PCMCIA card.
The Zeus Transceiver Family
Designed to control bi-directional burst-mode traffic on a fiber cable on
both the CO and CPE sides, the Zeus Transceiver family targets both EPON
and BPON applications. Consisting of a transceiver chip (CT-TPPMT12 for
BPON and CT-TPPMT01 for EPON) on the CO side and a transceiver chip (CT-TPPMN12
for BPON and CT-TPPMN01 for EPON) on the CPE side, the Zeus family complies
with IEEE 802.3ah, ITU-T 983 and SFF-8472 specifications for optical transceivers.
Its low power, small footprint and embedded diagnostics make Zeus unequaled
in the industry.
analogZONE Says . . .
Its very interesting to see that Centillium has already announced it's moving beyond DSL and copper to optical and PONs. While PONs will eventually compete with Centillium's copper-based access products, they dovetail quite nicely with their line of high-density voice processing chips that provide echo cancellation, compression, and supplemental functions that bridge between POTS and VoIP/SIP networks.
The BPON Family
Their new venture is focused on the FTTP market, and will include products
for private homes, small businesses, MTU/MDU, and point to point applications.
The initial product lines will include a series of protocol-oriented SoCs,
specifically tailored for CO (code name Colt) and CPE (code name Mustang)
applications. The Colt and Mustang chips are complimented by a pair of PMD
transceivers. The Zeus PMD device is designed to light up the fiber for
EPON applications, while the Apollo supports continuous mode for (1GE) services.
Finally, there is the Unicorn, a broadband service processor that borrows
its VoIP technology from earlier Centillium chips, and adds several important
security functions.
Getting PHY-sical
The Zeus PMD family consists of CMOS transceiver chips that contain a bi-directional
interface to a BIDI and to an external TIA -- also made by Centillium. Their
TIA is fabbed in SiGe and is optimized for burst-mode performance in point-to-multipoint
BPON systems. It's designed to work directly with the Zeus transceiver and
does not require an external AGC or reset. Centillium says the device is
suitable for APON and EPON applications, in both CO & CPE equipment.
Just for contrast, Maxim's current BPON solution consists of 3 chips. Centillium's single chip simplifies your design and saves space, allowing manufacturers to have the choice of either purchasing 3rd-party modules (a good option for low-volume start-ups), or actually integrating the single chip in on the line card. About the only other single-chip solution I know of is Freescale's BPON MAC solution (reviewed here last Fall). It's a well-engineered chip set, and is equally integrated, but uses someone else's TIA and is only intended for CPE side applications.
Although the release does not mention it, you might want to know that Centillium also offers the Apollo PMD which is specifically engineered for point-to-point services, including Gigabit Ethernet. It seems to have all the bells and whistles you'd want, including an on-chip laser diode driver, automatic power control, and a limiting amp. Just like its multipoint-oriented brother, Apollo's small 7 mm x7 mm footprint should make both optical modules and line cards with integrated drivers easier to design and build.
Serious About BPON
While Centillium's PHY-layer products seem to be very respectable, the real
indication of their commitment to BPONs is most evident in their protocol
SoCs. They have turned their talent for high levels of integration and telco-level
expertise obtained from years in the DSL market and applied it with single-minded
determination to optical networking. The resulting chips (Colt and Mustang)
are one of the first (perhaps the very first) devices to provide sufficient
levels of integration to drop the cost of BPON equipment to the levels required
for mass deployment.
The Colt is a single-chip SOC for CO that can provide a Layer-2 bridge connection for up to 32 CPE nodes. In addition to the necessary PON /SERDES functions, it contains a MIPS processor, plus on-chip CAM / MAC logic and the necessary hardware logic to support VLAN switching, wire-speed encryption, and IGMP Multicast/Broadcast filtering. The MIPS engine uses a combination of software and hardware acceleration to run a DBA (dynamic bandwidth assignment) algorithm. DBA is sort of the BPON community's answer to DOCSIS, the cable industry's MAC protocol that allows for efficient use of a shared medium. The chip also has sufficient power to perform IGMP Multicast/Broadcast filtering and support multiple SLAs. This allows transport of low-latency traffic, such as VoIP, or (heaven forbid) real-time connections between remote gaming boxes.
The Mustang CPE chip has a similar PON interface and a subscriber-side DBA MAC, but it also integrates lots of other functionality needed to create a low-cost optical gateway. To make easy connections to whatever home or SOHO networking gear it finds itself in, the Mustang chip sports MII, GMII, and UNI ports. Its ability to support multiple VLANs and process AES-encrypted data at up to 1 Gbit/s makes it an inexpensive way to provide secure access for stuff like VPNs for telecommuting workers or e-commerce transactions. Each Mustang supports 8 LLIDs (logic locator identifiers) to identify a subscriber. This allows a single Mustang chip to service up to eight subscribers in MDU/MTU settings: a real cost-saver for many applications.
The Unicorn is intended to be a CPE on-a chip, with voice processing, routing, and other home gateway features. The combination greatly reduces parts count in a typical BPON CPE: cuts costs and allows smaller packaging. Like most home gateway products, there are so many features that it probably deserves a separate review. If time permits, I'll take a closer look at Unicorn, or its successor, some time in the near future.
Centillium's decision to expand their market presence by turning towards optical access seems to be a bold, but natural, extension of their current capabilities into a promising new market. While rather ambitious, it represents a much more focused strategy than Broadcom which is placing its bets all over the table by introducing a hodgepodge of access and networking technologies. I worry a bit whether the high-speed analog skills acquired driving Mbit/s over copper can be extended to the demands of driving Gbit/s over optical fiber but, if they manage it, they should do very well as the fiber-to-the-premises revolution finally begins to gain momentum.
Centillium's Apollo PMD device is sampling now with the rest of its PON solutions scheduled to begin sampling in Q3 of 2004. The manufacturer declined to talk about specific pricing, but said that it is shooting for $120/line solution BOM (both ends), with 1/3 of this price in the semiconductor content.
Data Sheets are not available on the Internet yet, but general information on the products can be found at:
Main
Optical Business Unit Page
Physical Layer Solutions Page (Zeus and Apollo)
Protocol Layer Solutions Page (Colt and Mustang)
Broadband Services Processor Solutions Page (Unicorn)
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