Solarflare Communications Uses Open Silicon’s PowerMAX Technology in Second-Generation SFC9020 Ethernet Controller

Solarflare Communications, the leader in 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) silicon, is using Open Silicon’s PowerMAX™ technology in its second-generation SFC9020 Ethernet Controller with integrated 10Gb Ethernet PHY, which has been sampling to Tier1 server OEMs. This is the third generation of Solarflare silicon built by Open-Silicon, and the second designed using Open-Silicon’s PowerMAX technology to optimize the silicon for low power. Solarflare offers state-of-the-art 10GBASE-T performance with industry-leading low power, achieved by a best-in-class architecture, PHY integration, and Open-Silicon’s PowerMAXTM technology. The SFC9000 family can be used in most 10GbE applications, including LAN-on-motherboard, embedded adapters, blade mezzanine cards, and PCIe adapters. Solarflare’s product includes integrated SR-IOV, PCIe 2.0, and an integrated 10Gb SerDes requiring advanced 65nm design methodology to optimize the physical design for low power. Open-Silicon’s PowerMAX technology offers low-power design techniques like multi-voltage, multi-channel length, and multi-Vt design. In addition, Open-Silicon offers custom techniques like back biasing, transistor transformations, and power recovery. The combination of the best low-power EDA design flows with Open-Silicon’s unique technologies allows building the best possible custom silicon…

PowerMax Technology Diagram
(Picture: Open-Silicon)