Product category: Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Fairchild Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 31 January 2002
Switched Fabric Interface
to gain acceptance
The Switched Fabric Interface is set to move into mainstream technology, according to WT Greer Jr, Fairchild Semiconductor's senior VP and general manager of the Interface and Logic Group
Speaking today on a panel at DesignCon 2002, WT Greer Jr, Fairchild Semiconductor's senior vice president and general manager of the Interface and Logic Group, predicted Switched Fabric Interface's (SFI) rapid move into mainstream applications as products evolve from specialised niche solutions to high-volume applications.
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 31 January 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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SFI technology enables higher speed, increased bandwidth and greater reliability for backplanes and interconnects.
Despite difficult market conditions in 2001, high-speed access doubled and Internet users surpassed 400 million with predictions reaching 1 billion users by 2005, according to eTForecasts.
"The market will see a significant shift from multi-point to point-to-point interconnect solutions that will signal a major move toward SFI in the next two to three years", says Greer.
"SFI is not yet a mainstream technology.
Today SFI technology is driven by exotic, incompatible specs and the market is populated by suppliers of fringe, proprietary devices used in expensive, high-end applications".
As the high-end, SFI technology gains broader adoption, Fairchild sees a tremendous market opportunity.
"There will be a need for mass production, standardisation, short time-to-market and second sourcing", explains Greer, "because the industry is driven by cost.
Exotic solutions are expensive to implement, and companies that are skilled at producing high volumes at low cost will be successful in taking those exotic specs and making them mainstream standards".
While shared backplane solutions have run out of room to scale beyond two Gbps, switched fabric solutions with more reliable point-to-point links are expected to deliver upwards of 2.5Gbit/s per link to meet the demands of increased usage.
SFI is more readily scalable, with aggregate speeds of 40Gbit/s easily achieved, and potential to reach terabit levels.
As most switched fabric specifications call for LVDS signalling, Fairchild's LVDS offering expects to support SFI standards currently in use, such as InfiniBand, FutureBus, RapidIO, StarFabric and ring architectures.
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