Optical interconnect scales to AMD’s adaptive SoCs

At OFC, the optical communications and networking conference in San Diego, California (05 to 09 March), Ranovus has demonstrated a low power consumption,  800Gbits per second Ethernet interoperable link which is interoperable with AMD’s adaptive SoCs for AI / ML (artificial intelligence / machine learning) applications.

The Odin direct drive CPO 2.0 optical interconnect has 5pJ/bit energy efficiency and is claimed to be best-in-class for co-packaged, near-packaged optics and pluggable module form factors. 

The company demonstrated interoperability of the AMD Versal adaptive SoCs with the co-packaged Odin 800G direct drive optical engine and third party 800G DR8+ retimed pluggable modules. 

Ranovus’ Odin is a low latency, high density, protocol agnostic and standards-based optical engine that delivers massive optical interconnect bandwidth with industry-leading cost and power efficiency, claimed the company. Built on GlobalFoundries’ Fotonix monolithic RF / CMOS silicon photonics (SiPh) platform, Odin incorporates Ranovus’ proprietary RF CMOS, silicon photonics, laser and packaging technologies for volume manufacturing.  Odin is well suited for next-generation data centre architectures built on co-packaged optics, near-packaged optics, and pluggable OSFP / QSFP-DD / OSFP XD optical modules.

Dr Christoph Schulien, head of Systems and high speed IC R&D of Ranovus, said that the inherent versatility enables hyperscale data centre providers to drastically reduce power consumption and optimise density and cost as they deploy novel hybrid data centre architectures in response to the insatiable growth in AI / ML workloads.

Yohan Frans, vice president, engineering at AMD, said: “We are proud of our collaboration with Ranovus in demonstrating the performance and versatility of monolithic silicon photonics interconnects as data centre and 5G customers deploy highly efficient and cost-effective systems for next generation workloads.”

The interoperability between CPO and pluggable modules is a key proof point that their interconnect technology supports the flexibility and scalability with the lowest power consumption sought by hyperscalers as they optimise their data centres for AI / ML workloads,” said Vladimir Kozlov the founder and CEO of Lightcounting.

 Ranovus will demonstrate its Odin optical interconnect CPO, NPO and 800Gbits per second DR8+ pluggable module portfolio at the Ranovus booth 2019 and the GlobalFoundries booth 5216.  

http://www.ranovus.com

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PoE switch offers environmental protection and network security

Advanced network and security features for outdoor applications are claimed to be delivered by the PDS-204GCO power over Ethernet (PoE) switch from Microchip Technology.

It is the next generation of the PDS-104GO, and additionally offers easy installation and environmental protection, said the company.

PoE switches designed for outdoor use in smart buildings and cities enable services ranging from public Wi-Fi and video surveillance to connected streetlights that require improved reliability and cybersecurity protection. The PDS-204GCO switch  adds increased cyber protection and the redundancy required for high network availability in mission-critical applications with long-distance connectivity, said Microchip.

Like the earlier PoE switch, the PDS-204GCO complies with outdoor industry standards and is designed for easy and safe installation but is better able to support applications in which massive amounts of critical data are collected from widely dispersed PoE-powered edge IoT devices. “It addresses these dual challenges of network security and network availability all the way from the endpoint to the central management system,” said Iris Shuker, director of Microchip’s PoE business unit.

PoE technology enables power to be delivered over standard Ethernet infrastructure for quick and easy installation of edge IoT end points. Outdoor PoE switches connect these devices to the network and power them under a broad range of environmental conditions while monitoring and controlling status, including remote reset.

According to Microchip, the PDS-104GO switch is the first to support the industry’s high Ingress Protection 67 (IP67) waterproof rating in these applications while eliminating the need to open the unit during installation and jeopardize safety, performance or reliability. It also adds cybersecurity features for Ethernet networks to protect applications against threats at all network levels, and redundancy features that enable high network availability.

The PDS-204GCO includes four PoE Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports that support the IEEE 802.3bt (Type-4) standard and two small form factor pluggable (SFP) fibre links that each support 1Gbit per second or 2.5Gbit per second speeds. The fibre links can be used as optical uplink ports for surveillance cameras and as a redundant uplink path for increasing network availability.

Support for ITU-T G.8032 Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS) technology ensures communication continues if there is an uplink link failure. The PDS-204GCO switches also supports multiple network topologies, and multiple units can be concatenated using a daisychain topology to extend the reach from the main central switches while reducing the number of optical cables directly connected to it from each device.

Cybersecurity features protect both the data traffic transmitted within the switch and the switch’s system management. Key features for protecting transmitted data within the switch include endpoint device authentication and authorisation, manual switch-traffic policy management, and denial of service (DoS) attack prevention. Key features for protecting switch management and configuration include securing web browsing using self-signed or Certificate Authority (CA)-signed certifications and user authentication and authorisation by remote servers using Radius or TACACS+ security mechanisms.

The PDS-204GCO outdoor PoE switch is based on Microchip’s VSC7514 10-port industrial Ethernet switch, VCS6817 IStaX software package and PoE integrated circuits.

The PDS-204GCO switch is available now.

http://www.microchip.com

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Reference design reduces time to market and risk for radio designers

An integrated open radio unit (O-RU) reference design by Analog Devices enables radio designers to reduce risk and time to market, providing the optical front haul to RF. It also allows hardware and software customisation for macro and small cell radio units. It uses technologies that drive 4G and 5G RU requirements and includes support for all sub 6GHz band and power variants, including multi-band applications, added Analog Devices. 

The ADRV904x-RD O-RU reference design has been introduced to meet the ever more stringent timeline for O-RUs in tandem with more demanding and complex operator requirements. It provides the radio unit developer with comprehensive collateral resources, said the company, freeing designers to focus on innovation and differentiation.

The ADRV904x-RD O-RU reference design platform includes ADI’s fifth generation 8T8R RadioVerse SoC with digital front end including digital pre-distortion (DPD). ADI’s commercial O-RAN 7.2a IP stack is hosted on Intel’s Agilex 7 F-series FPGA.

The platform has been tested with Radisys Layer 2/3 software running on Intel FlexRan server hardware for 8T8R (eight transmit, eight receive) macro deployment scenarios. 

The O-RU radio platform is showcased at MWC 2023 (27 February to 02 March) in Barcelona, Spain, at ADI’s booth in Hall 2- 2B18.

Analog Devices combines analogue, digital, and software technologies for products that drive digitised factories, mobility and digital healthcare, combat climate change, and connect humans and the world, said the company. 

http://www.analog.com 

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HighTec wins the race to offer Rust Compiler for Infineon Aurix microcontrollers

Believed to be the first Rust compiler available for the 32bit Aurix multi-core architecture, HighTec EDV-Systeme said it enables the use of the Rust compiler with Aurix TC3x and TC4x microcontrollers. The pairing is designed for the development of safe, secure and smart mobility and industrial applications.

The Rust compiler joins HighTec’s portfolio of LLVM open-source based C/C++ compiler tools. This new offering targets customers in the automotive and industrial sectors which can now take advantage of the security and safety benefits of both the Aurix multi-core architecture and HighTec’s LLVM-based Rust compiler.

Recently, the programming language Rust has seen significant growth in popularity, driven by the increasing need for safe and secure systems, reported HighTec. Its memory management features, such as its ownership model, help prevent the types of vulnerabilities that are often the root cause of system failures and security breaches, said the company. 

Infineon’s Aurix microcontroller family has found applications in smart mobility applications in particular, where stringent safety and security requirements are required. The announcement means the robust safety and security features of the Rust programming language are combined with the ASIL D/SIL 3 certified Aurix TC3x and TC4x microcontrollers.

HighTec is the only compiler provider to be an Infineon Preferred Design House. Its Rust compiler for Aurix TC3x and TC4x leverages the modern open source LLVM technology, with an efficient backend. The compiler is characterised by its rapid build system and advanced code optimisations, which are specifically tailored to the architecture-specific functions of the Aurix microcontrollers. HighTec is able to accelerate the development and certification of safety critical applications across a range of industries, including automotive and industrial automation. 

The original HighTec C/C++ development platform is widely used by automotive manufacturers and Tier One suppliers. By 2024, HighTec plans to offer a safety qualified Aurix Rust compiler.

HighTec’s initial Aurix Rust package includes the Rust compiler tools consisting of  cargo build system, Rust libraries, hardware abstraction, and board support package (BSP) for TC375. There are also integrated examples including the use of C based peripheral drivers and documentation.

The examples have been designed in co-operation with Elexir. For Rust HLL (high level language) debugging, developers can use the Lauterbach Trace32 debugger. 

http://www.hightec-rt.com

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