PMC module supports Gigabit Ethernet over copper wire
-- EDN, January 20, 2000
The PMC-1000BT, a new PMC mezzanine module from SBS Technologies, Modular I/O, provides high-speed Ethernet communications over standard Category 5 unshielded-twisted-pair copper wiring. The module eliminates the need to rewire networks to support fiber-based products. SBS engineers designed the PMC-1000BT for embedded telecommunications, network access, and data communication applications.
The PMC-1000BT offers a single high performance Gigabit Ethernet interface controller on a standard PMC mezzanine module. It includes 32 kbytes of transmitting and 64 kbytes of receiving FIFO memory to minimize interface latency. The PMC-1000BT uses the Broadcom (www.broadcom.com) BCM5400 physical layer and the Level One (www.level1.com) LXT1001 PCI Ethernet media-access-control interface. The interface automatically negotiates with both IEEE 802.3 100BaseTx and IEEE802.3ab 1000BaseT network traffic.
The PMC-1000BT is available now and costs $695. SBS Technologies will also provide drivers for Windows NT 4.0 and VxWorks 5.3.
SBS Technologies Inc, Modular I/O, 1-650-327-1200, www.sbs.com.
-by Warren Webb
