Velio, Altera offer evaluation platform for serdes devices

Velio Communications and Altera announced the availability of the VC1022-DA-EVA evaluation platform for Velio's SONET-EOS product line for SONET/SDH networks. The platform also allows interoperability testing of the SONET-EOS devices with Altera's APEX II PLDs.

The SONET-EOS family is designed specifically for passing SONET/SDH traffic across system backplanes and very short reach optics between TDM framers and switch fabrics. Each device runs at 2.488Gbps and 2.67Gbps, allowing support of both SONET/SDH and FEC-encoded traffic.

"Through this partnership, Altera and Velio are able to jointly expand into new communications applications ranging from next-generation SONET in the metro to multi-terabit class OC-48 and OC-192 switches," said David Greenfield, director of product marketing for Altera.

The evaluation board includes a VC1022 quad 2.488Gbps to 2.67Gbps SONET/SDH serdes and two parallel port interfaces to connect to a host PC or additional downstream evaluation boards. It also contains an APEX II device, which interfaces to the VC1022 via APEX II's True-LVDS I/O.

The VC1022-DA-EVA board is priced at $5,000.