National Semi Intros DS92LV18 18-bit SerDes

National Semiconductor Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) introduced its low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS), 18-bit serializer/deserializer (SerDes) as part of its continuing campaign to simplify the design of communications systems and drive down engineering costs. Many networking and communication system applications are appropriate for this product, including 3G base stations, wireless local loop systems, broadband access equipment, imaging/display interfaces and high-speed industrial links.

Two extra bits can be extremely useful to system designers. Though data buses are typically byte-oriented (e.g. 8 or 16 bits wide), many buses also include other non-data signals such as control, parity, frame, status, etc. Transmitting this non-data information traditionally requires adding another SerDes link in parallel (doubling interconnect costs) or inserting control words or packets into the serial data stream (adding complexity through buffering and multiple clock domains). Both of these methods complicate system design, increasing system cost and design time. With National Semiconductor’s DS92LV18 18-bit SerDes, system designers serialize extra signals together with data at the existing system data bus clock frequency, eliminating the overhead and hassles of previous solutions.

Available now, the DS92LV18 is offered in an 80-pin, plastic quad flat pack package. It is priced at $9.95 each in 1,000-unit quantities.