LSI adds new power PC processor

SAN JOSE: LSI Corporation has said that it has added a new Power PC processor and fast embedded DRAM cores to its library, following rising demand for custom silicon in its core networking and storage markets.

LSI Corporation said it is leveraging a 10 Gbit Ethernet core licensed from the startup company Teranetics, and the 40 nm and 28nm process technology from its foundry partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) for the 10G Ethernet transition.

In September 2009, LSI Corporation had announced that it helped IBM Corporation develop the multi-core PowerPC 476FP.

Also available now from LSI in the 40nm process of TSMC is the 4-core version running at up to 1.6 GHz.

Sudhakar Sabada, general manager (custom silicon division) of LSI Corporation, said in the statement that “a lot of people” have written networking operating systems on PowerPC, including the IOS of Cisco Systems.

LSI Corporation also announced a 500 MHz embedded DRAM capability – which is its third generation of the core. The 500 MHz embedded DRAM, according to LSI, provides twice the density and half the power consumption of SRAM for system-on-chips targeted at designs like 10G Ethernet switches and routers.

The company said that it is seeking to leverage its strength in Fibre Channel silicon and software in order to cash in on the expected transition to converged networks running Fibre Channel over Ethernet.