The rise of smart factories, remote monitoring and connected infrastructure are increasing the demand for advanced networking systems that can operate over long distances and in challenging environments. To address the need for reliable and secure connectivity solutions, Microchip has announced its new portfolio of Optical Ethernet PHY transceivers, available in 25 Gbps and 10 Gbps versions, featuring IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and Media Access Control Security (MACsec) encryption.
Microchip’s optical Ethernet PHY transceivers provide a secure, deterministic and scalable alternative to traditional copper-based Ethernet solutions. They support link lengths of up to 10 kilometres over single-mode fibre for seamless deployments over dispersed infrastructure such as company and college campuses or warehouses. The integration of PTP time stamping delivers sub-nanosecond (<1ns) synchronisation accuracy across distributed nodes. This level of timing precision is essential for time-sensitive applications such as industrial automation, telecommunications and robotics.
“Design engineers are looking for solutions that simplify complex networking systems, adding PTP or MACsec could mean a complete overhaul of an existing design, our solution helps preserve our customers’ core-processing investment,” said Charlie Forni, corporate vice president of Microchip’s networking and connectivity solutions business. “We’ve integrated these capabilities into our transceivers, enabling bolt-on functionality to help engineers build smarter, more secure and scalable networks.”
The new variants support Ethernet speeds ranging from 1 Gbps to 25 Gbps, enabling higher bandwidth for data-intensive applications such as data centers, campus area networks, and robotic / industrial automation. Designers can easily scale their networks by selecting the appropriate data rate and media (Optical or DAC – Direct Attach Copper) to match their application requirements.
To help safeguard sensitive data in connected environments, security is integrated at the silicon level with support for MACsec (IEEE 802.1AE) encryption. This hardware-based implementation protects against network data breaches by encrypting traffic between Ethernet devices. MACsec is designed to thwart common cyberattacks including man-in-the-middle attacks, denial-of-service (DoS), eavesdropping and spoofing, to ensure data integrity across the network.
