Chip drives Thunderbolt communications cable

Chip drives Thunderbolt communications cable

The new Thunderbolt advanced high-speed I/O interface has two differential 10.3125-Gbit/s full-duplex lanes used to tunnel PCI Express and DisplayPort protocols on a copper cable up to 3 m long. The ISL37231 active cable IC is intended to be packaged in each end of the cable, along with a companion power management IC, the ISL80083.

The dual-channel, dual-simplex retimer IC provides adaptive signal optimization with signal processing that includes 30 dB of cable-optimized equalization and reset of the jitter budget via retiming. The chip, in combination with the PMIC, takes less than 250 mW, which allows it to be built-in to cable assemblies. The device also aids cable testing and system monitoring with real-time signal-quality indication. (Pricing not available — samples available now.)

By Jim Harrison

Intersil , Milpitas , CA
Sales 408-432-8888
www.intersil.com