PMC-Sierra is shipping four VoIP-oriented embedded processors that it acquired from Brecis. PMC-Sierra hopes the Brecis chips, which target VoIP (voice-over-IP) customer premises equipment (CPE), will enable it to serve existing customers of its carrier-network chips who are entering the “triple-play” (voice, data, and video) services market. (Other Brecis assets were purchased by Cavium Networks.)

PMC-Sierra will retain Brecis's “Multi-Service Processor” (MSP) family name, and will sell four of the 12 MSP chips formerly offered by Brecis, which launched the chip line — along with Linux support — on April 1, 2003. The MSP chips are based on 32-bit MIPS cores, and feature built-in QoS (quality of service), along with support for voice-over-TDM, -IP, and -ATM.

The PMC-Sierra/Brecis chips come with development kits for embedded Linux and VxWorks. They target broadband gateways (Example diagram), residential ATAs (analog telephone adapters) (Example diagram), and small enterprise-class IP-PBXs (private branch exchanges) with IADs (integrated access devices) (Example diagram).

Specific processors being offered by PMC-Sierra include:

• MSP2015
  • Targets residential ATA
  • 1-2 voice channels
  • Integrates three 10/100 Ethernet Macs, and PCI

• MSP2020
  • Targets residential/SOHO (small-office/home-office)
  • 1.2 voice channels, with VPN (virtual private network) security
  • Integrates ATA engine, three 10/100 Ethernet MACs, and PCI

• MSP4000
  • Targets residential/SOHO
  • 1-4 voice channels
  • Integrates single DSP core, VPN engine, three 10/100 EMACs, and a router

• MSP5000
  • Targets small enterprise IADs (integrated access devices) with IP PBX
  • 1-16-voice channels
  • Integrates two DSP cores, VPN engine, two 10/100 EMACs

According to PMC-Sierra, VoIP service deployments are growing rapidly, as competitive service providers target voice revenues and incumbent carriers introduce bundled “triple play” services (voice, data, and video). GM of Communications Products Greg Aasen said, “The VoIP assets that we have acquired have given us a leap forward into the broadband Customer Premises Equipment market. The MSP family is truly synergistic with our MIPS-powered processor family, and positions PMC-Sierra in the forefront of the triple play service revolution.”

Linley Group Sr. Analyst Sanjay Iyer said, “The MSP products were engineered from the start with the latency and QoS requirements of packet voice in mind. The resulting architecture easily scales to address multiple real-time media streams.”

 
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