Microsemi and Aquantia announce a production-ready multi-rate switch reference design platform

     Microsemi Corporation, a leading provider of differentiated semiconductor technology solutions in power consumption, security, reliability and performance, and Aquantia, a pioneer and market leader in high-speed Ethernet connectivity solutions for data centers, enterprise infrastructure and client connectivity The company today announced the launch of a production-ready multi-rate switch reference design platform optimized to support 24 x 2.5G and up to four additional 2.5G/ 10G BASE-T ports. The solution combines Megasome's SparX-IV L2/L3 enterprise switch VSC7448, Linux SMBStaX software, clock management, PD69208M Power over Ethernet (PoE) Power supply device (PSE) The manager and Aquantia's second-generation multi-rate IEEE™802.3bz PHY AQR409 were demonstrated by MGM at the NBASE-T Alliance booth at Interop ITX in Las Vegas last week.

     Larry O 'Connell, Director of Product Marketing for Microsemi's Ethernet Networking Technologies (ENT) division, said: "Thanks to the integration of Aquantia's PHY application program Interface (API) and firmware into Microsemi's suite of Linux-based applications, including CEServices, SMBStaX and WebStax, This enables this new multi-rate switch reference platform to provide Microsemi's customers with a comprehensive hardware and software solution that is easy to bring to market. In addition, the solution combines Meso Semi PoE, a low-jitter clock solution, and our Ethernet switch and software technology to meet our customers' Ethernet networking needs."

     Targeted applications for Microsemi and Aquantia's joint reference design include 1G, 2.5G, and 10G Ethernet switching and aggregation, ideal for enterprise infrastructure applications such as large enterprise and small and medium business (SMB) switches, enterprise access routers, and wireless local Area Network (WLAN) access point (AP) switches. Due to the exponential growth of Wi-Fi devices, the industry today is scrambling to maximize gigabit uplink throughput for enterprise aps. HIS Technology expects the world's 802.11ac and 802.11ac Wave 2 aps to total more than 128 million units between 2015 and 2020, accounting for more than 76 percent of total AP shipments by 2020. These 802.11ac upgrades, particularly Wave 2, will require Ethernet data rates that exceed those currently supported by Gigabit Ethernet technology.

     Kamal Dalmia, senior vice President of marketing at Aquantia, said: "With Wi-Fi speeds expected to exceed the capabilities of existing wired networks, there is a clear need to optimize multi-gigabit Ethernet solutions. The combination of Aquantia's AQrate AQR409 multi-rate PHY with Microsemi SparX-IV Enterprise switches provides original equipment manufacturers (Oems) with a highly optimized solution to address this challenge. As a result, we anticipate that the new joint reference platform with Microsemi will accelerate the implementation of multi-gigabit bandwidth across existing network cables, while enabling enterprises to cost-effectively address information technology issues."

     Aquantia has partnered with Microsemi to become part of the Accelerate Ecosystem, which aims to reduce time-to-market for end customers and the time it takes for ecosystem partners to achieve profitability. Microsemi's accelerated ecosystem portfolio provides leading silicon intellectual property (IP), systems, software and design experts to deliver proven motherboard and system-level solutions to end customers.