Philips adds MystiCom's DSP-based Ethernet core to ASIC offering

Philips adds MystiCom's DSP-based Ethernet core to ASIC offering
By Semiconductor Business News
October 27, 2000 (11:29 a.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20001027S0006

EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands -- Philips Semiconductors today announced it has ported an embedded DSP-based 10/100 Ethernet physical layer device designed by MystiCom Ltd. to an advanced CMOS process technology. The Dutch chip maker is now offering the digital signal processor core as a building block for system-on-chip ASICs serving local area networks (LANs) applications.

"Broadband deployment into small offices and residences is extending the LAN beyond the enterprise and fueling market opportunities for new Ethernet enabled products," noted Barry Dennington, vice president and general manager of Philips Semiconductors' Computing & ASICs Business Line. "Our customers, in turn, face continuous pressure to quickly deliver products that are unique, robust and economical."

The semiconductor arm of Royal Philips Electronics N.V. is aiming the new MystiCom 10/100 Ethernet PHY function at ASIC designs for cable modems, set-top boxes, residential broadb and gateways, and business LAN equipment. Philips said the MystiPHY110 core can be embedded in ICs, unlike other standalone 10/100 Ethernet PHY chips. It has been designed to be combined with other networking blocks, such as a media access controller (MAC), to provide single-chip solutions, said Philips.

The MystiPHY110's DSP-based architecture features a fully adaptive line equalizer and Baseline Wander (BLW) correction that has been tested under extreme conditions. It has passed tests with "killer packets" and extra crosstalk interference in networking cable up to 150 meters, according to MystiCom, which is based in Netanya, Israel.