Silicon Labs has introduced a new generation of User Line interface circuit (SLIC) chips for the VoIP gateway market

     Silicon Labs, a leading provider of semiconductor and software solutions for the Internet of Things and Internet infrastructure, announced the launch of a new generation of User Line interface circuit (SLIC) chips for the VoIP gateway market with the lowest power consumption, smallest size, highest integration and programmable features. Silicon Labs' single/dual channel Si32x8x ProSLIC® family provides the optimal SLIC solution for a wide range of VoIP client device (CPE) applications. These applications include wired gateways, xDSL integrated access devices, xPON optical network terminals, Fiber to the Home (FTTH), Fiber to the Building (FTTB), and wireless fixed terminal devices, among others.

     With the deployment of new FTTH/FTTB devices, upgrades to existing xDSL and wired gateways, and higher consumer demand for broadband speeds and services, the VoIP market has maintained steady growth year over year. According to Silicon Labs' estimates, the VoIP CPE market is expected to exceed 160 million SLIC ports in 2016. While telecom operators continue to offer more VoIP features and services, CPE manufacturers are also under pressure to reduce the system cost and power consumption of CPE products. As a leading provider of SLIC solutions in the VoIP market, Silicon Labs has enhanced its market-leading ProSLIC portfolio to meet the needs of CPE applications for bill of materials (BOM) cost, integration and low power consumption.

     Silicon Labs' flagship Si32x8x ProSLIC family of products offers industry-leading configurability, ensuring future-proof single/dual channel External Switching station (FXS) telephone interfaces in a compact single-chip solution. The ProSLIC chip minimizes SLIC device power consumption through the use of a flexible on-chip integrated tracking DC-DC controller, while supporting the patent-filed ultra low-cost capacitive boost configuration technology. In addition, they also reduce power consumption with Silicon Labs' patented Low Power Ringing (LPR) technology and ultra-low power consumption of 50mW per channel in on-hook mode. The dual-channel ProSLIC chip uses intelligent ringing technology in the patent application to support the use of low-cost power adapters in dual-channel CPE designs, typically reducing peak current by more than 300mA. These on-chip innovations enable the highly integrated ProSLIC chip to enable the most energy efficient SLIC products while providing a system BOM cost far lower than competing solutions.

     The ProSLIC family offers an integrated level converter/driver that allows direct connection to the power transistor in the DC-DC converter regardless of the input voltage. This innovative design eliminates the separate MOSFET pre-driver circuit typically required for competing SLIC designs, reducing the cost and volume of at least 12 off-chip devices in a two-channel design. Si32x8x chips can be connected to market-leading CPE SoCs via PCM/SPI or ISI digital interfaces. When paired with Silicon Labs' next-generation Si88x4x digital isolators in a 3-wire ISI interface, the Si32x8x family provides the industry's only single-converter isolated voice solution.

     The challenge for CPE manufacturers is how to integrate all the functional needs of users in a compact and low-cost product design. The Si32x8x series offers the industry's smallest and compact SLIC solution, with single-channel 5mm x 6mm and dual-channel 7mm x 7mm QFN package options that address the product size challenges faced by CPE manufacturers. The Si32x8x achieves the industry's smallest SLIC size, with a BOM size of only 4.2cm2 per FXS channel. This ultra-small device can support multi-channel gateway products to achieve the lowest BOM cost and minimum size per channel.

     Ross Sabolcik, vice president and general manager of Access and Isolation products at Silicon Labs, said: "As a leading provider of programmable SLIC solutions in the VoIP market, Silicon Labs will continue to invest in ProSLIC innovations and apply these innovations to provide our customers with significant benefits in cost, power and time to market." "The Si32x8x ProSLIC family perfectly meets the needs of CPE manufacturers to develop a new generation of low-cost, small size and energy efficient VoIP gateways."

     Silicon Labs provides complete hardware, software, and reference design support to speed product to market and simplify SI32x8x-based designs. The ProSLIC Application Programming Interface (API) is a common software library for the entire ProSLIC portfolio, eliminating the need for designers to develop system-specific software drivers for the ProSLIC chip. The ProSLIC API includes Linux kernel sample code and user-space device driver sample code, further reducing the designer's software development time. The API provides a rich set of phone line loop test functions to help diagnose outline faults, and it also includes a set of on-chip self-test functions to help with diagnostic analysis. To further reduce design difficulty, leading vendors of SoC solutions for VoIP gateway devices can provide hardware and software support for reference designs.