Silicon Labs' latest product is the new Subscriber Line Interface Circuit (SLIC) family, which provides the lowest power consumption, the smallest footprint, and the highest level of integration and programmability for the Voice over IP (VoIP) gateway market. The single-channel and dual-channel Si32x8x ProSLIC series provides first-class subscriber line interface solutions for various VoIP customer premises equipment (CPE), including cable gateways, xDSL integrated access equipment, xPON optical network terminals, and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), Building fiber (FTTB) and wireless fixed terminals.
The VoIP market continues to grow steadily each year, which is mainly due to consumers' demand for higher broadband speeds and new services, driven by new FTTH / FTTB deployments and upgrades to existing xDSL and cable gateways. According to Silicon Labs estimates, the VoIP CPE market is expected to exceed 160 million SLIC ports in 2016. Service providers will continue to provide other VoIP features and services, while CPE manufacturers will face pressure to reduce system costs and optimize the power efficiency of CPE products. As a leading provider of SLIC solutions for the VoIP market, Silicon Labs has enhanced its market-leading ProSLIC portfolio to meet the bill of materials (BOM), integration and low power requirements for CPE applications.
Silicon Labs' flagship Si32x8x ProSLIC family provides industry-leading configurability to ensure future-proof single- and two-channel foreign exchange exchange (FXS) telephone interfaces in a compact single-chip solution. ProSLIC devices minimize SLIC power consumption by using flexible integrated tracking DC-DC controllers that support patent-pending ultra-low-cost capacitive boost configuration technology. They also utilize Silicon Labs' patented Low Power Ringing (LPR) technology and ultra-low power consumption of 50 mW per channel on-hook mode to reduce power consumption. The patent-pending smart ringing technology in dual-channel ProSLIC devices also reduces the peak current required typically by more than 300 mA, making it possible to use a cost-effective power adapter in a two-channel CPE design.
The ProSLIC series provides an integrated level shifter / driver, which can be directly connected to the power transistor of the DC-DC converter regardless of the input voltage. This innovation eliminates the need for a separate MOSFET pre-drive circuit required for competitive SLIC designs, thereby reducing the cost and footprint of a two-channel design with at least 12 external devices. Si32x8x devices interface with leading CPE SoCs that provide PCM / SPI or ISI digital interfaces. When used with Silicon Labs' next-generation Si88x4x digital isolators through a 32-wire ISI interface, the Si32x8x family provides the industry's only single-transformer isolated voice solution.
CPE manufacturers face the challenge of assembling all the features a subscriber needs into a small, inexpensive product design. The Si32x8x series addresses this footprint challenge by providing the industry's smallest single-channel SLIC in a minimum 5mm x 6mm QFN package option, as well as a very compact 7mm x 7mm dual-channel solution. The Si32x8x BOM footprint of each FXS channel is only 4.2 cm2-the industry's smallest SLIC footprint. The company said that this small device size minimizes the BOM cost of multi-line CPE gateways and takes up the least space per channel.
"As a leading provider of programmable SLIC solutions for the VoIP market, Silicon Labs continues to invest in ProSLIC innovations that deliver significant cost, functionality and time to market benefits for our customers," said Ross Sabolcik's Silicon Labs access and isolation product. "The Si32x8x ProSLIC family is exactly what CPE manufacturers need to develop the next generation of low cost, small size and energy efficient VoIP gateways."
Silicon Labs provides comprehensive hardware, software and reference design support to accelerate time to market and simplify Si32x8x-based designs. The ProSLIC application programming interface (API) is a common software library for the entire ProSLIC portfolio, eliminating the need to develop system-specific software drivers for ProSLIC devices. The ProSLIC API includes sample Linux® kernel and user-space device driver examples to further reduce development time. The API supports a rich set of metal loop tests to diagnose external faults, and a set of internal self-tests to support diagnostics. To further alleviate design challenges, leading VoIP gateway equipment SoC solution providers can provide reference design hardware and software support.
