[February 27, 2001]

Agere Systems Announces Low Power, Broadcom-Compatible Telephone Interface Chip For Voice Over IP Applications

Agere Systems Inc., the former Microelectronics Group of Lucent Technologies, announced an extremely low-power ringing subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) chip that connects directly to Broadcom Corporation's customer premise equipment (CPE) chips for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solutions.

Agere's low-power SLIC chip provides the interface between a standard, in- home telephone set and other communications equipment, such as cable modems and residential or small office/home office (SOHO) gateways. The company's L9500 VoIP SLIC chip, combined with Broadcom's chips, provide the link to support enhanced telephone services over cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), wireless, fiber, and Ethernet networks. This solution offers communications equipment manufacturers a complete 3.3 volt solution with exceptionally low power consumption, which is particularly important in main power outage conditions.

"Agere was very aggressive in working with us to create a 'Broadcom-compatible' ringing SLIC," said John Gleiter, Broadcom's VoIP product marketing manager. "Agere's specifications show that the L9500 chip is the lowest-power, Broadcom-compatible ringing SLIC on the market today. Paired together, the Agere L9500 and Broadcom BCM3352 integrated circuits represent a high-performance solution for applications requiring the lowest power usage and the longest potential battery life in cable telephony, voice over IP applications."

Agere's chip is suitable for a multitude of highly integrated, broadband VoIP applications, from high channel density integrated access devices to ultra power-sensitive CPE. The Agere chip is compatible with the Broadcom BCM3352 single chip cable VoIP solution, the Broadcom BCM1100 CPE Engine, and other Broadcom broadband chips.

"Unlike most 'traditional' ringing SLICs that operate at 5 volts, our chip can operate at 3.3 volts," said Paul Pietrusewicz, strategic marketing manager with Agere Systems. "We have created an independent SLIC that provides the lowest power (27 milliwatts-mW) during on-hook, the most critical of telephone states."

Agere's ringing SLICs are ideal for cable modem, DSL, fixed wireless, and fiber-to-the-home VoIP gateways that integrate telephone services. The chips are qualified for residential broadband gateways in support of power-critical lifeline telephony services with battery backup or for line powered equipment.

"Today's announcement is in line with our development program for SLICs and is part of the overall Agere initiative to support the emerging IP based telephony marketplace," added Pietrusewicz. "Our team welcome the opportunity to offer another industry compatible device."

This Agere L9500 chip solution complements Agere's existing L9214/L9215/L9216 SLIC family of products, which are compatible with other Agere VoIP solutions.

The L9500 Agere Ringing SLIC uses only 27 mW during idle, on-hook operation (scan) and 41 mW during active operation. During these operation states, most 'traditional' ringing SLICs currently use twice the power of the Agere L9500 chip. Idle power consumption is key in applications with a tight power budget and requiring battery backup, because this is the state in which most SLICs exist when not in use or during a battery backup event.

The L9500 chip comes standard in a 28 pin plastic leaded chip carrier and is also being offered in a seven millimeter by seven millimeter 48 pin micro leadframe chip carrier, making it virtually as small as any such chip for this market. Samples of Agere's new chip, which are being manufactured in the company's Reading, Pa., facility, are currently available. The chip is priced at $3.30 in quantities of 100,000.

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