May 7, 2009 -- Quellan Inc., a developer of analog signal processing and RF noise cancellation ICs, announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Foxconn Technology Group, a specialist in end-to-end environmentally friendly contract manufacturing.
The companies say the partnership will provide thinner, higher performance, environmentally friendly interconnects to the markets for cloud computing, desktop and rich media display technology, combining Foxconn's interconnect technology and green manufacturing prowess with Quellan's Q:Active active cable semiconductor technology. Further, the alliance will expand Quellan's cloud interconnect program to provide OEMs with access to vital technologies for accelerating active interconnect development.
The companies will collaborate on active interconnects for consumer, desktop and data center markets. They note that active interconnects dramatically reduce the power, weight and diameter required to interconnect high speed, rich media platforms such as servers, switches and displays, by performing signal processing directly inside the cable connector.
Quellan contends that its Q:Active technology represents the industry's smallest, lowest power and highest density integrated circuits for the active interconnect market. The ICs deliver 6 Gbps miniSAS,10 Gbps SFP+ and 40 Gbps QSFP throughput in a single CMOS device for active copper cables, blade servers and switches.
Quellan's QLx111G device achieves 10 Gbps transmit and receive in a 3 mm x 3 mm package while the QLx411GRx and QLx411GTx transmit and receive 40 Gbps in a 7 mm x 4 mm package. Quellan's consumer products including the QLx1600 and QLx4270-DP deliver USB 3.0 and DisplayPort active cable integration in similar ultra small packages.
The chips are embedded directly inside the connector and compensate for channel impairments such as skew, attenuation, group delay and crosstalk, presented by the copper cable. Entirely analog to enable low power and a small size, they allow a 10 Gbps interconnect to run on copper twinax just 2 mm in diameter (30% thinner than fiber optics and 90% thinner than Category 6a structured cabling, contends Quellan) or increase distance on traditional copper by as much as 400% - allowing data centers to interconnect without the hefty power consumption of fiber optic lasers and receivers.
"Our partner's Q:Active technology provides a seamless method for increasing reach and interconnect density without the price of power consumption," comments Caesar Chen, Foxconn SVP. "Our customers are now sampling our active cables and we plan to continue to innovate with this green technology going forward."
"As a world leader in interconnects and end-to-end services alike, Foxconn is an excellent choice as a partner to deliver extremely cost effective, high performance active copper interconnects," adds Tony Stelliga, CEO of Quellan. "By combining our silicon expertise with their scale, innovation, devotion to environmental causes and engineering professionalism, unsurpassed price/performance green solutions can be achieved in the interconnect industry."
On the Web:
www.quellan.com
www.foxconn.com