Following the announcement of the fastest ever Asynchronous Transfer Mode chip earlier this year, Vancouver, British Columbia-based PMC-Sierra Inc has now unveiled what it claims is the first single chip adaptor for 155Mbps Asynchronous Mode. The PM7375 LASAR-155 is the first in a new set of LASAR Local Asynchronous Mode Segmentation and Reassembly offerings, said the firm. It combines all primary Asynchronous Mode Network Interface Card functions into one mixed-signal device, combining the functions of the industry-standard S/UNI-LITE Asynchronous Mode physical layer together with an Asynchronous Mode Adaption Layer Segmentation and Reassembly engine, parameter control random access memory, PCI bus interface and a Direct Memory Access controller. By using a single chip design, the company said that it is improving performance, reducing costs and simplifying the design of Asynchronous Transfer Mode client-server Network Interface Cards, computer motherboards and networking equipment. Specifically, said the company, a new Asynchronous Transfer Mode Network Interface Card board design now need consist of only one major integrated circuit – the LASAR-155 – plus an optical data link or twisted pair interface, as opposed to typical Asynchronous Transfer Mode Network Interface Cards, which, it said, need a minimum of six very large scale integration circuits to implement similar functions. The LASAR-155 chip will be priced at $125 in volume production quantities, PMC-Sierra says. First samples of the product will be available in December, with general availability beginning in first quarter 1996.
