WAN-Friendly Processors

Analog Devices is working on a family of communications processors for voice and data transmission that don't care what type of WAN is used. Supported WANs include xDSL, cable, wireless local loop (WLL), Ethernet in the first mile (EFM), and T1/E1. AD says the new AD6x89 family is for manufacturers of broadband communications equipment such as routers, integrated access devices (IAD), small/medium enterprise (SME), residential/SOHO gateways, and security/VPN gateways. The AD6489 and AD6689 system-on-a-chip hardware/software suite provides data/voice processing, packetization, routing, IP services, security, management, and WAN processing. The chip's DSP-based voice processing engine handles up to 16 voice channels for applications like voice over IP and voice over ATM. The AD6x89 family also has a scaleable security processing engine that includes a dedicated security processor and hardware assists for encryption (DES/3DES), authentication (MD5, SHA-1), and random number generation. The AD6489 (data only) and AD6689 (voice and data) will be available in Q4 2001 and will be priced at $25 and $45, respectively, in quantities of 10,000 units.