Applications

The demand for high-speed networking continues to grow driven by several factors, including; more users globally and the addition of bandwidth-hungry applications that move data and information at high speeds.

Routers and Switches

Networking equipment includes routers and switches to connect networks and devices within those networks.

A typical router design includes a processor (CPU) to handle the computational tasks on a motherboard. Routers such as that illustrated above use a variety of add-in modules such as NICs (Network Interface Card) that plug into the motherboard. In systems using PCI or PCI/X a number of slots are required to support add-in cards. To extend the number of PCI/X slots a bridge such as the Tsi350™ or Tsi310™ is required.

Processing needs can be handled by a PowerPC using a host bridge such as the Tsi109™ to bridge to memory and peripherals including PCI bus slots.
Performance requirements for many applications are increasing at an exponential rate. HyperTransport™ (HT) addresses these performance requirements by offering ultra low latency accesses without having an adverse effect on power consumption. The Tsi301™ and Tsi308™ HyperTransport-to-PCI/X bridges, due to their ability to build scalable systems, are an ideal solution for many applications like routers, storage, and wireless and wireline infrastructure.

Designs using a processor with an HT port can use one of Tundra’s HT-PCI bridges such as the Tsi308 to bridge to integrated PCI peripherals and PCI expansion slots. To further expand the PCI expansion slots a PCI-PCI bridge is needed such as the Tundra Tsi340™, Tsi350A™ or Tsi352™.