SMSC launches new line of low power Ethernet transceivers

     SMSC announced that it has introduced a new energy-efficient, low-power 10/100 Ethernet physical Layer transceiver (PHY) for consumer, industrial and enterprise hardware applications. The new LAN8740, LAN8741 and LAN8742 reduce power consumption by up to 50% compared to SMSC's existing transceiver products. Key applications for the new products include set-top boxes, digital cameras, network printers and servers, IP telephony as well as video telephony, digital television, industrial control and embedded systems. SMSC has more than 15 years of experience designing networking products and has shipped more than 250 million Ethernet ports. SMSC serves a global customer base with a single vendor offering a broad portfolio of networking products that are specifically designed for a variety of device architectures.

     The LAN8740 and LAN8741 build the IEEE 802.3az energy-efficient Ethernet networking standard directly into the physical layer. IEEE 802.3az is a revision of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard that defines mechanisms and protocols that reduce network link power consumption during periods of low usage frequency, primarily by converting interfaces to low-power states. The LAN8742 offers a "Wake on LAN" mode, which puts the system into a low-power state and wakes the system when specific network traffic occurs, thus saving resources during standby. These innovative designs enable customers to upgrade their existing systems for better energy efficiency by simply replacing the Ethernet PHY.

     Rolf Mahler, SMSC Vice President and General Manager of Industry and Networking, said: "The need to save system power in almost all networking systems is becoming increasingly urgent, and SMSC has responded to this market demand by building specifications for power-saving Ethernet networks. Now, we are taking this solution a step further by developing a smart PHY that puts the system into a low-power sleep state and detects specific data traffic with a "LAN wake up" feature. In addition, the LAN874x series features cable diagnostics to detect and eliminate precise timing deterministic delays in cable and data transmission. These features make the new transceiver a feature-rich and environmentally friendly Ethernet connectivity solution."

     The LAN8740, LAN8741, and LAN8742 PHyS integrate voltage regulators and ESD protection devices. The MAC interface can support flexible I/O voltages from 1.6V to 3.6V to meet the needs of higher performance ASics, SOCs, and FPGas as these devices continue to move to more advanced processes that require support for lower I/O voltages. The LAN874x family of devices supports flexible I/O voltages for highly optimized system designs. The LAN8740, LAN8741, and LAN8742 have the flexibility to turn off on-chip regulators, helping to reduce system power consumption.