Gigabit Passive Optical Network Solution From Freescale Enables Triple Play At The Speed Of Light
San Jose, CA - The delivery of rich digital content to the home and small office via fiber takes a step toward reality recently with the introduction of the MSC7120 from Freescale Semiconductor — the industry's first voice-enabled Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) SoC.
The multi-core MSC7120 integrates a Power Architecture CPU, a StarCore DSP and a data path engine to deliver a complete PON sub-system in a single device. It addresses the high data forwarding throughput requirements of several applications including the delivery of "triple play" (voice, video and data) broadband services to the home or small business.
"Featuring industry-leading integration, ultra-high performance and production-ready enablement options, the MSC7120 takes broadband data delivery over optical fiber technology to a new level," said Ritu Favre, director and general manager of Freescale's Digital Home Division. "This new part, together with our strong industry relationships and established history in the PON space positions Freescale for early leadership in the GPON market."
Freescale and Alcatel-Lucent, the dominant supplier of GPON equipment worldwide, initiated joint development of the MSC7120 after the companies agreed in 2005 to collaborate on delivering compatible, interoperable and cost-effective GPON technology to the market.
"As a market leader in GPON, we see this announcement as an illustration of how GPON technology is evolving and maturing," said Mike Dobbs, senior vice president for Alcatel-Lucent's Access Division. "Freescale has a proven technology and this important step now enables the network appliance community to provide industry-compatible GPON devices at an affordable cost."
GPON technology supports the convergence of IP over optical networks, offering connection speeds much higher than today's DSL- or DOCSIS-based networks. It is a key enabler for bandwidth-hungry "triple play" applications such as HDTV and Video on Demand.
Analyst firm IDC forecasts that worldwide consumer and small business broadband subscriptions will grow to approximately 400M subscriptions by 2010.
As the number of broadband subscribers worldwide expands, GPON is recognized as an emerging solution to challenges that threaten to constrict delivery of rich content to end consumers over "last mile" infrastructure.
"Over the next few years, GPON technology will become a viable solution for increasing bandwidth in today's access networks, especially as carriers address the increasing demand for video as a key element of their ‘triple play' services," said Aileen Arcilla, senior research analyst at IDC.
About the MSC7120
The MSC7120 combines the high channel voice density of Freescale's MSC711x DSP device with the high-speed networking capabilities of the PowerQUICC II Pro platform featuring Power Architecture technology, a GPON media access controller (MAC) and Freescale's packet engine, which achieves Gigabit wire rate packet forwarding. The device supports the G.984 GPON GEM protocol and is designed to be compliant with the ITU-T standards.
About StarCore DSP Technology from Freescale
StarCore DSP technology from Freescale is the driving force behind some of the most sophisticated, flexible and powerful digital signal processing devices in the industry. It enables the creation of highly advanced DSP products uniquely suited to address current and emerging market requirements. StarCore technology runs more applications with less — less power, fewer components and lower cost. Freescale Semiconductor is actively charting the course for future generations of StarCore architectures.
SOURCE: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.