Advanced Micro Devices Inc has introduced Supernet, claiming thereby to be the first chipmaker to offer a chip set for high-speed local area networking using fibre-optic media. Supernet implements the ANSI Fibre Distributed Data Interface standard for 100Mbit-per-second operation. The five-device chip set implements a complete FDDI node, replacing approximately six boards of discrete parts, with id-entical functionality at a fraction of the component cost. It supports a maximum 65 mile circumference for the network, 2,000 yards between stations, 35 times the maximum dis-tance for Ethernet. Chips are the Am79C81 RAM Buffer Controller, the Am79C82 Data Path Controller, the Am79C83 Fibre Optic Ring Media Access Controller, Am7984 Endec Transmitter, and Am7985 Endec Receiver. The chip set is $625 for 100-up.
