Low power 1Gb EPON chip from Qualcomm Atheros

Qualcomm Atheros has released low power 1 Gb Ethernet passive optical networking (EPON) chip QCA8829 for use in optical broadband access equipments used in homes and businesses. Qualcomm Atheros says the QCA8829 is a first-of-its-kind chip that will help to advance the development of fiber to the home (FTTH) by supporting multiple standards, including those supporting cable operators' optical broadband in North America, provisioning for smart grid applications over PON in China, and EPON infrastructures in markets worldwide.

Standards supported by this chip solution include the North American Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) Provisioning of Ethernet (DPoE) 1.0 specification, IEEE 802.3ah EPON specification, the China State Grid EPON specification, and the China Telecom (CTC) EPON specification. The chip solution is specifically tailored to meet the evolving needs of telecom carriers, cable operators and utility providers.

"The QCA8829 is an exciting next step for Qualcomm Atheros in providing groundbreaking access technology," said Dr. Zheng Liu, vice president and general manager, access business unit, Qualcomm Atheros. "Qualcomm Atheros is providing a simplified system design that provides low energy consumption and cost while outperforming comparable devices. Combining these attributes with support for four major industry standards will help our customers develop PON products quickly and affordably to support access services worldwide."

The QCA8829 consumes a power of less than 200mW for grid applications with Gigabit Ethernet (GE) PHY sleep mode enabled and less than 600mW when running full 1 Gbps throughput with GE PHY enabled. The 76-pin package size fits into a small form-factor pluggable (SFP) optical module.

Availability: Now in samples, also available are reference design kits, volumes in 4 Q 2011