In our Deep Green Editor’s Choice section, we look at technology helping design green into today’s new products.
Multicore[
] processing technology is continuing to evolve, and creative new architectures are showing up to do more work with less power consumption. A good example is the new Netronome NFP-32xx family, delivering more than 1.838 billion instructions per watt in a profile of 15 to 35 W. These highly integrated network flow processor engines are designed to team with Intel architecture processors using the Single Root I/O Virtualization[] (SR-IOV) features of PCI Express Gen 2 to provide 256 queues for I/O coprocessing.
The result, according to Netronome, is the ability to perform 20 Gbps of Layer 2-7 deep packet processing with line-rate security features, all in an optimized power profile.
Netronome
www.netronome.com
RSC# 42250
Feels like SDRAM, but nonvolatile
I like the comment Jim Handy of Objective Analysis made to describe the problem of large-scale memory in applications where power can be lost: “DRAM is volatile, flash is slow, SRAM with batteries is unreliable, and alternative technologies are too costly to use in large densities.” Obviously that statement is a bit generalized, but it does tend to be true as memory densities get larger.
This is what the new AGIGARAM is designed to solve. Offering densities from 4 MB to 2 GB, AGIGARAM functions just like SDRAM during normal operation. When power is lost, it moves data into integrated NAND flash using energy stored in the on-module power subsystem.
There are two families: BALI, for more general-purpose embedded applications from 4 MB to 64 MB at 100 MHz operation, and CAPRI, for higher-end (up to 2 GB) and higher-speed (DDR-800) data storage. Operating life is 5 to 10 years depending on the model, packaging is a 200-pin SODIMM or mezzanine card, and operating temperature is 0 °C to +70 °C.
AGIGA Tech
www.agigatech.com
RSC# 42251
Quad PSE controller provides 100 W
Power over Ethernet (PoE) is gaining ground, with the latest IEEE 802.3at standard (PoE Plus) offering higher power levels up to 25 W for Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE). It’s an ideal application for companies with robust mixed-signal technology, including advanced transistors.
Linear Technology has come to market with its new LTC4266, a four-port PoE Plus controller with optimized heat dissipation and advanced power management features. Each of the four channels can connect a Powered Device (PD), which can request up to 25.5 W of power using two-event classification.
Features include programmable current limiting and overload limiting, fast shutdown, four-point PD detection to provide immunity from false detection, and an I2C interface for integration with a host. Packaging is either a 38-pin 5 mm x 7 mm Quad Flat No lead (QFN) or a 36-pin Shrink Small-Outline Package (SSOP).
Linear Technology Corporation
www.linear.com
RSC# 42252
