Evatronix adds Ethernet Media Access Controller to its offer

January 28, 2002, DesignCon, Santa Clara, California; Bielsko - Biala, Poland

Semiconductor intellectual property (IP) provider CAST Inc. and IP cores and design services provider Evatronix SA today announced the addition of new core to their line of general purpose IP for electronic design: the MAC Ethernet Media Access controller.

Ethernet MAC is available in hardware description language (HDL) form ready for synthesis to ASICs or for implementation with Altera or Xilinx FPGAs. Custom core modifications and other options are also available.

The new core is available for license now through the distribution network of CAST Inc. - Evatronix's primary partner. "We already have one of the broadest available lines of IP cores, but customers have been asking for these specific functions," said Hal Barbour, president of CAST. "These new addition makes our general purpose IP even more beneficial to SoC developers, who want to focus on designing their unique applications or product elements and rapidly assemble the rest of the system."

Expanding the General Purpose IP Product Line

Ethernet MAC joins a broad range of products that the company refers to as "general purpose IP," or GPIP. This term distinguishes the product line from "star IP" - proprietary 32- or 64-bit processors and other high-end functions - and "commodity IP" - lower-end, often trailing-edge blocks and functions.
GPIP also characterizes the breadth of CAST's core offerings, and its goal of serving as a single-source supplier for most popular or standards-based cores. Unlike other IP providers that specialize in one technological niche or another, CAST delivers a broad range of cores by augmenting its own development efforts with the expertise of international development partners. Each partner brings a special focus to the team, while CAST determines customer requirements, sets development and quality standards, and provides extensive customer support.
Customers respond well to the GPIP approach, counting on Evatronix and CAST's experience delivering high-quality models and IP and appreciating the ability to select many of the cores they need from one trusted source. Typical uses include achieving faster time to market by augmenting the more creative, proprietary portions of SoC designs, consolidating and enhancing existing board-based products with FPGAs or ASICs, and extending product lifetimes by replacing obsolete parts.

About MAC

The MAC core is a high-speed Ethernet local-area-network (LAN) controller based on the standard Intel/DEC 21143 chip. It implements Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) algorithms defined by the IEEE 802.3 standard for media access control over Ethernet. From the host side, the MAC uses a configurable interface for connecting external CPUs or standard bus controllers like a PCI. This interface can be configured to work with 8, 16 or 32 data bus lengths with big-endian or little-endian byte ordering.

About Evatronix

Established as an early reseller of CAD and EDA systems, Evatronix S.A. is principally a developer of electronic virtual components (IP cores). The company recently introduced electronic design services, including front-end ASIC design (VHDL & Verilog modeling), FPGA design (for Altera & Xilinx technologies) and the development of hardware and software for embedded systems.
Evatronix is focused on engineering excellence, and three quarters of its employees are full-time design engineers. Company headquarters are in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, and the main development center is located in Gliwice, Poland.

About CAST, Inc.

CAST provides a broad line of general-purpose IP cores, including 8- and 16-bit processors, peripherals, buses, network interfaces, communications devices, multimedia operations, and encryption functions. Self-owned and self-financed, the company's IP revenue grew 50% in 2001 due to its popular product line and lean operations model. Operating since 1993 with a focus on making IP practical and affordable for mainstream designers, the company has established a reputation for high-quality products, simple licensing, and responsive technical support. The company is located near New York City, and works with an international network of IP developers and distributors.