News Release from: Freescale Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 25 March 2003

Platform puts smart DSL gateways on the cards

The Smart Gateway 857 IAD reference platform is a comprehensive hardware and software platform solution designed to streamline the development of residential and SOHO gateway products.

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The Smart Gateway 857 IAD reference platform is a comprehensive hardware and software platform solution designed to streamline the development of residential and SOHO gateway products. According to the international DSL Forum, the number of DSL subscribers worldwide grew to nearly 36 million in 2002-an increase of more than 90% over the year. The Asia-Pacific region had the most DSL users by the end of 2002, with 14.5 million subscribers.

The continued uptake of DSL worldwide is driving the market for new DSL-based CPE products.

To help speed time to market for xDSL CPE products, Motorola has designed the Smart Gateway 857 reference platform to provide a comprehensive system foundation for developing a wide range of residential and SOHO gateway applications, such as DSL modems and routers, Ethernet routers, and integrated access devices (IADs).

Powered by the cost-effective MPC857DSL PowerQUICC processor containing a PowerPC core, the Smart Gateway 857 platform also takes advantage of Motorola's security processor and DSP portfolio to offer bridging and routing capabilities, hardware-based security, packet telephony and wireless access through PCMCIA.

The Smart Gateway 857 reference platform is backed by communications software and end-to-end development tools from Metrowerks, a Motorola company.

Based on both industry and open standards, Metrowerks communications software leverages the high performance and scalability of Linux OS and includes development tools and protocol stacks.

The communications software integrates a suite of software engines running on Linux OS to enable xDSL and Ethernet communications and management support, security stacks for firewall and optional VPN, wireless stacks for optional IEEE 802.11b LAN connectivity, and voice stacks for voice over IP (VoIP).

"Motorola's Smart Gateway 857 reference platform alleviates much of the risk and design time involved in developing residential gateway equipment, freeing designers to focus their time and resources on the value-added portions of their business", said David Perkins, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Motorola's Networking and Computing Systems Group.

"Our advanced reference platform is an ideal solution for equipment designers and manufacturers because it enables them to get embedded processors, software and support from one supplier, work with the PowerQUICC architecture they know and trust, and leverage the scalable, cost-effective benefits of Linux OS".

"The xDSL CPE market is evolving from a modem-only market to one that favours CPE manufacturers that can deliver residential and small business gateway platforms at low cost, with a variety of features, and with fast time to market", said Mike Wolf, Director of Residential and Enterprise Communications at In-Stat/MDR.

"Because of this, CPE system vendors are requiring their silicon partners to deliver full platform solutions.

Motorola's Smart Gateway 857 platform is specifically designed to address these new market requirements, enabling broadband equipment makers to deliver residential and SOHO gateway products that are 'faster-cheaper-smarter'.

In-Stat/MDR believes equipment designers can decrease costs by developing product families - with options for security, voice, wireless and a variety of xDSL interfaces - built around Motorola's PowerQUICC architecture and scalable software".

The Smart Gateway 857 platform includes a reference board, documentation, schematics and a bill of materials (BOM).

This turnkey solution is designed to automate and expedite all phases of developing residential and small business gateway applications.

Rather than having to create a gateway design from scratch, developers can spend more of their time engineering innovative application features that further differentiate their CPE product offerings.

The Smart Gateway 857 is also engineered to give developers the flexibility to design a wide range of residential and SOHO gateway products based on one versatile platform.

Metrowerks communications software and development tools help make it fast and easy to develop VPN-enabled DSL and Ethernet routers, as well as voice- and VPN-enabled IADs.

"The Embedded Linux OS is the optimal platform for creating broadband CPE applications, providing a stable, open-source, and scalable development environment", said Berardino Baratta, Vice President of the Metrowerks Linux Solutions Group and Chief Technology Officer.

"Metrowerks' software solution provides developers with comprehensive networking stacks, and the Metrowerks Platform Creation Suite of tools streamlines each step of an embedded product's development cycle, from conception to market, thereby speeding time to revenue for new CPE products".

The Smart Gateway 857 IAD reference platform is available now.

The suggested retail price for the evaluation kit is US $1000.

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