Vitesse's Gigabit PHY Extends Battery Life for Ethernet Modems

Vitesse Semiconductor unveiled a new small form factor version of its SimpliPHY VSC8641, an IEEE 802.3 compliant Gigabit Ethernet PHY transceiver. The new device is aimed at space conscious consumer electronic designs. It features built-in advanced energy management, cable diagnostic and self-correction features, enabling designers to more efficiently tackle next-generation network deployment in power-sensitive applications such as cable modems and PON optical network terminals containing batteries for E911 compliance during power outages.


Among its features, the VSC8641 includes "EcoEthernet" features to reduce overall network energy use. The first is ActiPHY, an automatic power savings mode that can detect unused Ethernet ports on network devices and power them down or place them in stand-by mode. This can result in up to a 75% savings in energy compared to a Gigabit PHY operating at full 1000BASE-T data rate. The second is PerfectReach, an intelligent algorithm that actively adjusts the power level needed based on cable length. Combining these features into customer premise equipment, an OEM can benefit by upgrading to Gigabit Ethernet speeds, yet minimize impact on overall power consumption during times when batteries are employed to ensure E911 compliance is met.
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