Gigabit Ethernet products offer ease of design

21st March 2017

Lanna Deamer

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Microchip has announced a portfolio of 48Gb Ethernet chips featuring advanced capabilities, certified compliance, comprehensive software support and copy-ready evaluation tools. The new suite of products, known together as GigEpack, aims to reduce complexity and remove barriers in deploying high-speed networks, opening up new uses and applications.

The GigEpack includes the industry’s first single-chip Gigabit Ethernet switches with integrated HSR/DLR redundancy for ultra-high reliability in critical manufacturing applications. Also included is the industry’s first automotive-grade USB 3.1 Gen 1 to Gigabit Ethernet bridge which supports Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems on a variety of physical network layers.

The comprehensive portfolio of products, designed for industrial, automotive, and consumer applications, includes three key elements that ensure ease-of-use and fast time-to-market. First, all products are certified by University of New Hampshire Interoperability (UNH-IOP) testing. Second, all products come with free software drivers that are certified or third-party approved for use with all major operating systems running on smartly-engineered, copy-ready evaluation boards. Finally, the GigEpack suite is backed by Microchip’s free LANCheck online design service that reviews customer designs, ensuring best design practices are used.

The GigEpack suite of products includes three product families. The new KSZ9477/9567/9897 switch family includes features that allow users to create ultra-reliable networks with HSR/DLR redundancy and transport audio and video with Audio/Video Bridging (AVB). The KSZ9567 switch, for example, has 7-ports, an SGMII interface and also features EtherSynch technology, providing support for real time Ethernet, IEEE 1588 v2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), AVB, and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN).

The new LAN7800/LAN7850/LAN7801 bridge family enables customers to add Gigabit Ethernet to embedded processors via USB 3.1 Gen 1, USB 2.0 or High Speed Inter-Chip (HSIC) bridging to a variety of physical layers such as 1000Base-T, or 100Base-T1 and HDBaseT via RGMII.

These products join Microchip’s existing KSZ9031 family of Gigabit PHYs featuring automotive-grade robustness and low power consumption.

All products in the suite are available now for sampling or to purchase for volume production. The KSZ9477/9567/9897 switch products are available in TQFP packages. The LAN7800/7850/7801 products are available in QFN packages. The KSZ9031 PHY products are available in QFN packages.