Token-Ring MAC in FPGA?

[PJD]

TI's TI380C30A Token-Ring MAC/PHY costs $56 (1k).
Their TI380C60A PHY costs $10 (1k). Ergo, the MAC costs $46.

Can the MAC be synthezised in an FPGA for a lower recurring cost?
If so, what non-recurring costs are involved?
Are there any sources of Token Ring IP?
Which level of Viewlogic/Synopsis FPGA Express would be required for a
design of that size?

--
Philip Decker
Sarasota, Florida, USA

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[ach...@madge.com]

In article <7tj3e2$bju$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,

PJD <pjde...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> TI's TI380C30A Token-Ring MAC/PHY costs $56 (1k).
> Their TI380C60A PHY costs $10 (1k). Ergo, the MAC costs $46.

You wish it were so simple. But i think that TI don't sell that many
C30A's (I know proteon/openroute use that part, but to the best of my
knowledge Madge, Olicom and IBM do not use it.)

The C60 probably sells more in volume, certainly olicom use that part.
So some of the cost difference may be due to volume.

>
> Can the MAC be synthezised in an FPGA for a lower recurring cost?

I don't know about a lower recurring cost.
What you're going to be synthesising is :
a token ring protocol handler + an onboard MAC processor + a memory
controller and various interfaces.
You either buy a processor license and/or IP.
but synthing the whole lot can easily chew up 50K gates in an FPGA.

> If so, what non-recurring costs are involved?

I didn't think FPGA had NRE - except for your design time.

> Are there any sources of Token Ring IP?

Not that I know of.
So it's "build your own" time.

> Which level of Viewlogic/Synopsis FPGA Express would be required for a
> design of that size?

I can't comment on that.
But there are other FPGA synth tools out there.

--
AndyC.
Senior Dev. Engineer at Madge.connect
All views expressed here are my own and are not corporate views in any
way, sense or form.