Mindspeed Announces a Compact, Low-Power Crosspoint Device

Offering features that were previously only available with suboptimal, higher-power and more expensive crosspoint switches, Mindspeed Technologies has introduced a compact, low-power crosspoint device for small- to medium-sized switching matrices.

Featuring reconfigurable input/outputs (I/Os) that allow developers to customize a system’s matrix size for each application, Mindspeed’s M21123 non-blocking switching solution incorporates the same Amplif-Eye signal-conditioning technology used in the company’s larger crosspoints and signal conditioners. The M21123 crosspoint consumes only 70 milliwatts (mW) per channel, which is less than any other solution of its size and is optimized for Serial Digital Interface (SDI) and other data frequencies up to 3.2Gbps.

The M21123 crosspoint can be mainly beneficial to for high-definition (HD) SDI digital video routing switchers and other production and presentation switchers.

“This is a major expansion of Mindspeed’s product portfolio, and fills a critical gap in industry solutions while extending our offering across a broader range of broadcast, industrial and medical segments,” said Ryan Latchman, executive director of strategic marketing with Mindspeed’s high-performance analog business unit. “We are bringing the highly differentiated features of our large crosspoints and signal conditioners to a new category of more feature-rich small- and medium-sized switching matrix solutions.”

Enabling the device to create 18x6, 12x12, 1x23 matrix sizes and any variation in between, Mindspeed’s M21123 crosspoint features 18 reconfigurable I/Os and six fixed outputs. This allows for great flexibility in allocating and routing signals in a broad range of applications. For instance, developers can now fan-out buffers that require more outputs than inputs and multiplexers/selectors that require more inputs than outputs and customize their designs for switches that require an even number of inputs and outputs.

Recently, the company announced that it will be demonstrating next-generation LTE (News - Alert) base station advances based on the company’s Transcede system-on-chip (SOC) solution at the International CTIA Wireless 2011 exhibition to be held from March 22 to March 24 in Orlando. Powering next generation Picocell (News - Alert) demonstrations, Mindspeed’s Transcede SoC provides 3GPP Release 8-compliant LTE Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 processing with picocell performance.