Akros Announces World’s First Family of Active EMI Suppression Devices with ESD Protection for Ethernet Applications

Folsom, Calif. December 3, 2007 – Akros Silicon, Inc. today announced the availability of the AS1602 that provides an unparalleled combination of system level EMC compliance and surge protection for Ethernet applications, without impacting data transmission speeds. The device integrates unique active chokes that provide 10dB of additional common mode (CM) noise suppression over the entire Ethernet bandwidth (1MHz to 125MHz), allowing designers to meet Class B compliance (FCC Part 15 or CISPR22) effectively Designing for EMC۝ from early in the design process. Additionally, the AS1602 provides an unprecedented level of ESD protection by enabling the system to exceed +/- 25kV air discharge (IEC 61000-4-2 specifications) and +/-12kV cable discharge event (CDE).

“With the AS1602 featuring active EMI & ESD suppression for Ethernet applications, Akros Silicon is addressing protection requirements for any equipment that connects to LANs,” said Jag Bolaria, senior analyst with the Linley Group. “This product is uniquely positioned in the market as an industry-first due to it being an active device, which provides customers with a system-level protection solution.”

Alternative solutions meet EMI and system ESD requirements through the use of external passive components e.g. diodes/TVS or magnetic chokes. These passive components add significant parasitics that degrade the Ethernet performance requiring multiple design turns to meet the toughest EMC requirements with little margin. In some cases the designs go through a complete re-design in order to meet the tough EMC requirements. By comparison, Akros۪ AS1602 allows designers to solve both EMC and ESD suppression using a single, compact IC, enabling them to get products to market earlier by eliminating the EMC tweaking required in the past.

“EMC compliance is one of the major challenges faced by system designers,” said Ven Shan, vice president of marketing, Akros Silicon. “The AS1602 will help to reduce the arduous hours of debug efforts in the lab and limit or eliminate multiple board spins so customers can avoid product launch delays.”

The AS1602 is placed between the Ethernet PHY and the line transformer. This preserves the integrity of the Ethernet signals by providing very low common mode impedance while maintaining high differential impedance and low differential capacitive loading. It suppresses CM noise in both directions – ingress and egress. This increases the system۪s immunity to CM noise coming from the Ethernet cable, and prevents emission of CM noise to the same cable by compensating for many variables that are the source of noise in Ethernet systems. These variables include: CM noise from Ethernet PHY DACs and drivers, variations in Ethernet line signals caused by Ethernet transformer and passive component mismatches as well as variations in PC board designs and different vendor PHYs.

The AS1602 device enables customers who have already achieved Class A compliance to easily migrate to Class B (CISPR22 and FCC Part 15, Class B requirements for Radiated and Conducted Emissions) or to achieve consistent margin over the entire Ethernet signal bandwidth of 1MHz to 125MHz in 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T applications. Additional EMC margin enables customers to address varying global compliance requirements with one product design for global markets.

10/100 Ethernet applications will use a single AS1602 while Gigabit Ethernet applications will use two AS1602s. The AS1601 is a companion product that provides EMI suppression only. Both products are suitable for a wide range of Ethernet applications including voice over IP (VoIP) phones, security cameras, wireless access points (WAP), set top boxes, networked printers and appliances, desktop and laptop computers.

Key Features of AS1602:

EMI Performance:

  • CISPR22 and FCC Part 15, Class B requirements for Radiated and Conducted Emissions
  • IEC 61000-4-3/6 requirements for Radiated and Conducted Immunity

ESD performance:

  • Robust built-in ESD protection provides additional protection for PHY and improves system
  • IEC 61000-4-2 (air discharge) +/- 25kV (AS1602 only)
  • Cable Discharge Event (CDE) +/- 12kV (AS1602 only)
  • JESD22-A114, ESD, HBM +/- 8kV (AS1602 only)
  • JESD22-A114, ESD, HBM +/- 2kV (AS1601 only)

Other Key Features:

  • Does not degrade Ethernet performance: Passes Gigabit Ethernet return loss with margin
  • Single supply operation (3.3V or 2.5V)
  • Typical power consumption of 90mW, Low power mode of 55mW
  • Industrial temperature range (-40?C to 85?C)
  • Tiny 16-pin QSOP RoHS compliant package
  • The AS1602 is priced at $1.60 for 1K quantity. The AS1601 is priced at $1.23 for 1K quantity.

About Akros Silicon

Headquartered in Folsom, California, Akros Silicon (Akros is a Greek word for edge) is a leading provider of highly differentiated system-level integrated circuits that provide advanced power management to the edge of the network. Akros Silicon۪s disruptive silicon technology enables large scale deployment of network-attached appliances, such as VoIP phones, wireless LAN access points, RFID tag readers, point-of-sale terminals, networked cameras, remote access and home-networked systemsaccelerating the convergence of data, audio, and video applications.