Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc. (FMA) and Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Inc. (FLA) today introduced their second-generation single-chip 10Gbps Ethernet switch, the MB87Q3070, built with the newly developed CX-4 high-speed electrical interface. The switch chip's CX-4 macro allows designers to use copper cabling instead of expensive optical interfaces in the interconnects between the switch chassis, and enables data transfer at distances over one meter in the backplane. The new MB87Q3070 with the CX-4 macro is designed for compact, low-power and low-cost switches for servers, data centers, clusters, high-performance computing, enterprise and metro area networks. A 12-port, 10Gbps Ethernet switch system requiring under 50 watts of power can be built within a 1U height to support the 15-meter distances incorporated in the IEEE 10GBASE-CX4 standard, with extensions to 25 meters possible using Fujitsu's technology. "Adoption of 10Gbps Ethernet technology will increase rapidly now that it is possible to deploy it over copper instead of the more expensive optical modules and fiber," said Keith Horn, vice president of marketing, Fujitsu Microelectronics America. "The cost and power advantages are significant. Fujitsu is the industry's first supplier of high-performance 10 Gbps switch silicon to incorporate this important interface." The MB87Q3070 includes all the features of the original single-chip 12-port switch, which was introduced in mid-2003. The new switch has high-speed buffer memories, SERDES interface, an IEEE 802.3ae-compliant 10Gbps Ethernet MAC, and high-speed interface macros on an area measuring just 256 square millimeters. The MB87Q3070 runs on a core clock speed of 312.5 MHz, and delivers aggregate bandwidth of 240Gbps. The device's extended drive capability makes it ideal for blade-server backplanes and similar applications. A high-speed interface macro eXAUI (extended XAUI) also has been developed and integrated into the MB87Q3070 switch chip. The eXAUI macro, which supports standard XAUI and 10GBASE-CX4, extends the reach to distances of 25 meters on copper cable. This is achieved by using aggressive equalization circuits in both the transmitter (for pre-emphasis) and receiver (analog filter circuit) to enable a 25 meter copper cable transfer. In addition to the equalizer circuits, an Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) monitor, which is integrated into the eXAUI macro, enables adaptive control for parameter equalization, in order to compensate for loss through the transfer caused by cable length and other conditions. With this capability, eXAUI enables the data transfer over the backplanes well in excess of one meter. Pricing and Availability The new 10Gbps Ethernet switch chip, the MB87Q3070, is fabricated using Fujitsu's 0.11-micron process, and is in 728-pin Flip-chip BGA packages. Small-quantity samples and evaluation boards are available now. Prices start at US $825 each in 10,000-unit quantities. The development of this switch was partially funded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a Japanese governmental agency.