San Jose, California-based Micro Linear Corp has announced what it says is the first chip capable of sending Asynchronous Transfer Mode data over Category 5 unshielded twisted pair copper wire or shielded twisted-pair cables. The new patent-pending ML6672 chip is said to operate at 155Mbps at distances of up to 330 feet over either category of cable. The company claims to have got around the problem of signal distortion through the use of a smart circuit which it says analyses the length of the wire over which the data is to be sent, and tunes an adaptive equalisation circuit to remove distortion, and restore the received data to its original form. The chip is in full production and is available in a 32-pin Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier format. It is set to be priced at $20 in quantities of 1,000.
