DS2 launches Aitana™ the state-of-the-art 200Mbps Powerline Chipset at Intel Developer Forum, Fall 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Intel Developer Forum, Booth 347 — DS2, a global leader in semiconductors for Powerline Communications, today unveiled Aitana its state-of-the-art integrated 200Mbps chipset, the powerline industry’s most innovative and cost-efficient design that further integrates external components into the silicon to deliver the best consumer multi-media experience. DS2 engineers are showcasing Aitana in a demo at Booth 347 at IDF.

Each Aitana chipset has an embedded processor, an Ethernet bridge, an IP stack, a powerful API (Applications Program Interface) and value-added software capabilities which make it a self-contained, flexible, adaptable, programmable and very easy to embed robust powerline solution. The size, performance and price-point of DS2´s new Aitana powerline chipsets are forging the path for reliable embedded networking in today’s most popular consumer electronics such as XDSL gateways, computers, televisions, set-top boxes and games consoles.

Aitana technology has been designed with Quality of Service protocols in mind, so that the chipset manages multiple priority levels within the network. Data, VoIP, IPTV and video on-demand services are all assigned sufficient network resources to operate simultaneously.

“DS2 was the first to bring 200 Mbps powerline networking to global consumers. Now with Aitana and through the addition of new software features and more aggressive integration especially on the analog front end, we are again the first to develop the most integrated chipset solution for high-performance, low-cost networking applications” commented Victor Dominguez, Director of Sales, DS2.

In terms of technology readiness third party tests by major service providers show that DS2 products are at a level of maturity that supports prime time multi-media applications Major operators including British Telecom, Telefónica, Telecom Italia, Telia Sonera and others deploy DS2-based 200Mbps technology in their commercial IPTV services. Mr Dominguez added,” with Aitana we have focused on reducing costs and developing applications that consumers and businesses alike will really benefit from. This new DS2 Aitana chipset that includes a powerful API makes the process of developing lower cost solutions to deliver secure and uninterrupted IPTV, VoIP and video streaming throughout the home much easier for organizations around the world.”

“Making Moore’s Law a self-fulfilling prophesy we have reduced the component count down to a minimum, and embedded many more of those components onto our silicon including memory, filters, drivers, and lower cost power supplies. This not only retains the high performance it also reduces cost and makes the device easier to integrate into a wide range of consumer products, all of which are connected to powerline networks today. The chipset is based on UPA DHS standards, which will help to make it future-proof, as the UPA is highly cooperative with ETSI and the IEEE’s developments of international standards for powerline communications,” commented, Jose Calero, Director of Technology, DS2.

The new Aitana chipset is fully compliant with the Universal Powerline Association’s (UPA) Digital Home Standard (DHS) for compatibility with the world’s best selling and most widely adopted 200Mbps powerline technology. This ensures coexistence and interoperability with other DHS-compliant in-home and access products requiring a share of bandwidth.

Technical InformationThe Aitana chipset (DSS9101 and DSS7800) has UPA DHS compliant MAC and PHY layers, with a powerful embedded media network processor. The technology includes an 802.1D Ethernet bridge with packet detect and redirect capabilities – that can learn up to 64 MACs and discover the network topology – and a 32-bit microcontroller with an embedded TCP/IP networking stack, allowing data packets to be examined, prioritised and forwarded. The unique TDMA based MAC enhances uninterrupted video-streaming, and is today the only solution able to handle video multi-streaming, neighbour networks and multiple VLANs efficiently by reducing the congestion on the network often associated with CSMA systems.

The analog component (the DSS7800), drives the integration beyond the state-of-the-art, including filtering and power devices, it includes a 48 pin QFN package that runs off a single 5V supply, with individual power down control for each block of the transmission. The highly integrated two-chip solution has configurable frequency notching to support global regulatory compliance. It has hardware-based encryption at strengths of 128-bit AES, 256-bit AES and 3-DES. The chipset includes SPI, GPIO, TDM/I2S and UART interfaces.