Waiting for the next generation ADSL DMT modem makers covet benefits of anticipated chips >BY BETH SNYDER, Switching & Transmission Editor

Asymmetrical digital subscriber line proponents of discrete multitone have been troubled by high power consumption, heat dissipation in the central office, high cost and space-hogging equipment.

Rival line code carrierless amplitude/phase modulation fares better in most of those categories. In the battle for ADSL line code dominance, that's bad news for DMT. But DMT modem makers have a not-so-secret weapon on order that espouses to level the playing field. It is the next generation of chips from semiconductor manufacturers such as Motorola, Texas Instruments, Alcatel Telecom, Lucent Technologies and Analog Devices.

DMT modem and system vendors have been eagerly awaiting the new chip arrivals scheduled for this year.

TI is expected to announce today that its new digital signal processing chips have 15 times the processing power of the current generation and will be loaded with DSL code by 1998. Amati has an ADSL deal with TI and U.S. Robotics, which is only beginning to reveal its ADSL plans (see story on page 6) and uses TI digital signal processors for its other modems.

"TI will probably be the last chip supplier to enter into DSL, and that doesn't really bother them," said Kieran Taylor, broadband consultant with TeleChoice in Verona, N.J. "They're really looking for the mass-market, consumer use they feel won't be ready until after 1999.

ADI's next generation will be released in the next few weeks, said Rupert Baines, ADI's product manager for ADSL. Hayes, Ascend, PairGain, Teltrend and DSC plan to integrate the chips in their products through ADI's OEM, Aware.

ADI hasn't gone public on any of its own direct accounts.

Baines said all the chip manufacturers have tackled the power, heat, size and cost issues in the forthcoming release. "We've completely blown not only the DMT [problems] but the ADSL problems away," he said. "The crop that will come out this year addresses all that.

Motorola, after pushing the date back a few times, plans to have its single-chip CopperGold solution ready for its partners by the end of the first quarter. Amati is Motorola's ADSL expert/technical partner, Ericsson supplies system knowledge and Westell Technologies contributes market leadership know-how.

Cabletron and Netspeed are two customers that have said they'll use the CopperGold DMT chips as part of their solutions.

"The next year will be very important for DMT providers," said Debbie Sallee, ADSL business development manager for Motorola's semiconductor products sector.

Alcatel is also working on its next generation DMT ADSL chipsets, which the four RHC members of the Joint Procurement Consortium-BellSouth, SBC Communications, Ameritech and Pacific Telesis-expect by July, followed by a third generation in January 1998.

Pacific Bell is aware of the importance of the next generation chips, as well as the deadlines that need to be met, said Barbara Kerby-Miller, Pacific Bell director of network operations and engineering for ADSL. Pacific Bell is planning to offer ADSL to customers in September and obviously needs the chips first.

"I'm talking to Alcatel often about the schedule," she said. "We meet regularly on the technical issues and scheduling. We can't afford to wait until April or so and find out it won't be ready."

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