Technology
Overview
Leading Technologies for Aerospace & Defense, Communications, Data Center and Industrial
At Microsemi, we use our engineering expertise and deep systems and networking understanding to introduce innovative systems, subsystems, software, ICs and discretes that solve general industry needs, as well as our customers’ design challenges.
Unique technologies embedded in Microsemi's solutions address our customer-specific challenges for energy efficiency, miniaturization, power management and reliability, enhanced security and accurate timing and network synchronization.
- Connectivity: Microsemi is a premier supplier to the communications industry with multiple innovative technologies for connectivity in the enterprise, data center and telecom equipment markets.
- IEEE 1588 Technology
- Monolithic Microwave Surface Mount (MMSM) Technology
- Monolithic SiGe Technology
- Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Express or NVMe Technology
- NVMe over Fabrics Technology
- Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express or PCIe Technology
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over HDBaseT (PoH) Technology
- RAID Technology
- Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Technology
- Serial ATA (SATA) Technology
- Service-Aware Switch Architecture Technology
- Software-Defined Storage (SDS) Technology
- Energy Efficiency: At Microsemi, we appreciate the importance of bringing energy efficient technologies directly into your designs to deliver energy savings and cost efficiency to end-users. With our unique technologies, Microsemi solutions give you a competitive differentiator to modernize network infrastructure and systems to readily meet increasing energy needs in an eco-friendly way.
- Gallium Nitride (GaN) Technology
- Monolithic Microwave Surface Mount (MMSM) Technology
- Monolithic SiGe Technology
- Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Express or NVMe Technology
- NVMe over Fabrics Technology
- Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express or PCIe Technology
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over HDBaseT (PoH) Technology
- Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Technology
- Serial ATA (SATA) Technology
- Service-Aware Switch Architecture Technology
- Miniaturization: Electronics miniaturization and packaging are areas of domain expertise for Microsemi, based on our complete design and manufacture capability, combined with our continuous R&D programs and collaborations. Our miniaturization technologies are engineered to help our customers develop and rapidly bring next-generation miniaturized systems to market.
- Embedded Die Technology
- Monolithic Microwave Surface Mount (MMSM) Technology
- Monolithic SiGe Technology
- SAW Technology
- Power Management and Reliability: Power management and reliability are deeply ingrained in Microsemi’s portfolio, which is one of the industry’s most comprehensive semiconductor technology offerings.
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over HDBaseT (PoH) Technology
- Service-Aware Switch Architecture Technology
- SAW Technology
- Security: Microsemi has extensive experience with embedded systems security, having served the Defense market for more than five decades. With our deep systems architecture expertise and experience, we focus on proactively addressing the most critical security issues across multiple security markets to help our customers create a safer, more secure world;
- GPS Threat Protection and Security
- Timing Accuracy: Microsemi is the world’s leading source of accurate and precise time solutions, delivering the industry’s most complete timing and synchronization solutions portfolio. Based on our deep systems understanding of how timing is generated and distributed, Microsemi enables our customers to bring the most accurate and precise network timing for operations and applications across industries.
Ready to explore further? Contact your local Microsemi sales office today to find the right technologies and products for your design needs.
Connectivity
Innovative Technologies for Enabling Connectivity
Microsemi is a premier supplier to the communications industry with multiple innovative technologies for connectivity in the enterprise, data center and telecom equipment markets.
Ethernet
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over HDBaseT (PoH): Microsemi is the pioneer of Power over Ethernet, shipping PoE ICs and systems since 1998. PoE and PoH enable the deployment of Ethernet devices that consume up to 95W with remote management capabilities, allowing planned shutdown of devices to reduce energy consumption. Microsemi's unique PoE technologies greatly ease the deployment and maintenance of carrier technologies such as small cells, backhaul, Wi-Fi, wireless broadband, FTTH and FTTdp;
- RF Integration: Microsemi's RF integration capabilities range from the creation of extremely compact and energy efficient systems and sub-assemblies, through the unique Monolithic Microwave Surface Mount (MMSM) integrated RF packages, all the way to Monolithic SiGe technology for RF front end modules with 802.11ac support;
- Time Accuracy: Microsemi is the industry's only supplier of end-to-end packet-based synchronization technology portfolio based on IEEE 1588. Microsemi provides the most complete product portfolio along with understanding of how timing is generated and distributed, enabling accurate and precise network synchronization. Microsemi portfolio of products and solutions include:
- IEEE 1588 PTP source / master equipment called Grand Masters supporting various capabilities of PTP, NTP and other timing protocols. Microsemi portfolio includes range of timing equipment supporting various input and output connections, number of clients as well as form factors. These serve a variety of end markets including wireless and wireline infrastructure, cable, smart grid/power line as well as data center applications.
- Our newest timing system, Integrated Grand Master (IGM), integrates an indoor GPS receiver and antenna in compact form factor ideally suited to small cell and HetNet scenarios
- Atomic Clocks for Holdover timing, NTP Servers and the TimePictra Software Suite that allows service providers to see a complete picture of Timing and Synchronization in their networks
- Components enabling network equipment to implement high accuracy IEEE 1588 node: High accuracy, low jitter PLLs, Ethernet PHYs with highly accurate time stamp including IEEE 802.1AE MACsec
- Software enabling network equipment to implement high accuracy IEEE 1588 node: highly evolved servo algorithm extracting accurate timing in complex network with multiple hops and asymmetry of the network and PTP stack
- Service-Aware Switch Architecture: ViSAA™, short for Virtualized Service Aware Architecture, is the industry's only silicon-based implementation to provide Ethernet services sold by Carriers to their Enterprise customers. With inherent SyncE and IEEE 1588 protocol support, ViSAA works in tandem with CEServices™ software and Microsemi's ViSAA-enabled Carrier Ethernet switches to enable equipment capabilities such as on-demand service creation, remote monitoring and troubleshooting, at lower power and cost and higher performance than competitive solutions.
Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Express or NVMe: Microsemi introduced the industry’s first PCIe Gen 3 NVMe Flash Controller (Flashtec™), followed by a 2nd generation introduction of the industry’s fastest PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD controller. Microsemi data center connectivity technologies lead the industry in port count and signal integrity, scaling the performance storage tier with the industry’s first PCIe (NVMe) storage switches (Switchtec™).
NVMe over Fabrics: In addition to Microsemi's work with UNH-IOL to ensure proper NVMe compatibility and direct contributions into the NVM Express Work Group as a board member, Microsemi collaborates with industry ecosystem leaders to advance solutions for more efficient scaling of data center storage architecture, including NVMe over Fabrics using RDMA.
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express or PCIe: PCIe is widely used as a bus interconnect interface in server platforms, but is growing as a storage interconnect solution as well with the addition of NVMe storage devices into the PCIe ecosystem. Microsemi has a track record of introducing leading technologies for PCIe in its diverse data center product portfolio including:
- Industry’s first PCIe Gen 3 SAS/SATA RAID Controller
- Industry’s first PCIe (NVMe) storage switches (Switchtec™)
- Industry’s first PCIe Gen 3 NVMe Flash Controller (Flashtec™)
- 2nd generation of the industry’s fastest PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD controllers
- PCIe Gen 3 Redriver/Retimer with Adaptive Equalization
- Flash-based FPGAs and SoCs used in CPLD functions with integrated PCIe End Point implementations
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS): For the SAS interface standard that predominates data center storage ecosystems today, Microsemi’s offers industry-leading SAS/SATA technologies in our SAS Expander portfolio that deliver superior signal integrity (up to 9dB better than the SAS specification) and port density (up to 68 ports). Additionally, Microsemi’s leading SAS/SATA RAID and HBA products based on these SAS/SATA technologies provide the industry’s first high-port density of up to 24 ports on a single storage controller device.
Serial ATA (SATA): Microsemi is an active participant in ATA and SAS-IO standards organizations with industry-leadingSAS/SATA technologies underpinning our SAS/SATA RAID and HBA portfolio for data center. In addition to the power efficiencies and port-density mentioned above, Microsemi’s industry-leading SAS Expander technologies boost performance up to 80%.
Software-Defined Storage (SDS): Microsemi’s smart storage technology uniquely delivers two levels of options for SDS: HBA for raw performance with optimal power or SmartHBA, which adds redundant SDS stack boot capabilities. Microsemi's smart storage portfolio offers a consistent, high-quality user experience with unified drives, firmware, and management tools, improving overall customer experience, and delivering reliability, consistent performance and reduced qualification time.
Ready to explore further? Contact your local Microsemi sales office today to find the right technologies and products for your design needs.
Energy Efficiency
Technologies Optimized for Energy Efficiency
At Microsemi, we fully appreciate the importance of bringing energy efficient technologies directly into your designs to deliver energy savings and cost efficiency to end-users. With our unique technologies, Microsemi solutions give you a competitive differentiator to modernize network infrastructure and systems to efficiently meet increasing energy needs.
- FPGA and SoCs: Microsemi provides industry-leading flash-based non-volatile FPGAs and SoCs for general-purpose applications in the Industrial, Communications, Defense, Medical and Space markets. Delivering highly differentiated solutions when security is vital, reliability is non-negotiable and power matters, Microsemi FPGAs and SoCs feature:
- 30% to 50% lower total power consumption compared to SRAM based FPGAs
- Instant-on capability, to assist in system start-up tasks, system configuration, and supervision during voltage ramp-up
- Gallium Nitride (GaN): Microsemi's state-of-the art Gallium Nitride technology allows the creation of transistors that switch faster, and at higher temperatures, allowing extremely high efficiency power conversion and RF power amplification;
- Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Express or NVMe: Microsemi is a leader in NVMe, having introduced the industry’s first PCIe Gen 3 NVMe Flash Controller (Flashtec™) and a 2nd generation of the industry’s fastest PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD controller. Microsemi scales the performance storage tier with its industry first and industry’s lowest power consumption PCIe (NVMe) storage switches (Switchtec™), which deliver up to 60% more power efficiency than other solutions.
- NVMe over Fabrics: In addition to Microsemi's work with UNH-IOL to ensure proper NVMe compatibility and direct contributions into the NVM Express Work Group as a board member, Microsemi collaborates with industry ecosystem leaders to advance solutions for more efficient scaling of data center storage architecture, including NVMe over Fabrics using RDMA.
- Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express or PCIe: Microsemi’s PCIe (NVMe) storage switches (Switchtec™) offer the industry’s lowest power consumption, with up to 60% more power efficiency over alternatives.
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over HDBaseT (PoH): Microsemi is the pioneer of Power over Ethernet, shipping PoE ICs and systems since 1998. PoE and PoH enable the deployment of Ethernet devices that consume up to 95W with remote management capabilities, allowing planned shutdown of devices to reduce energy consumption. Microsemi's unique Energy Efficient PoE (EEPoE™) technology cuts the power losses on cabling infrastructure by 50%;
- RF Integration: Microsemi's RF integration capabilities range from the creation of extremely compact and energy efficient systems and sub-assemblies, through the unique Monolithic Microwave Surface Mount (MMSM) integrated RF packages, all the way to Monolithic SiGe technology for RF front end modules with 802.11ac support;
- Low-Power RF: Microsemi provides the industry’s lowest power sub-GHz transceivers using the MICS band (402-405MHz). Our family of transceivers and RF modules is ideal for implantable medical applications;
- Serial Attached SCSI (SAS): Microsemi’s industry-leading SAS/SATA technologies in our SAS Expander portfolio for data center deliver the industry’s lowest power consumption, with competitive solutions consuming 20-40% more power. Additionally, Microsemi’s SAS/SATA RAID and HBA products based on these SAS/SATA technologies provide the lowest power solution, up to 40% greater power efficiency, with the industry’s first 28nm storage controller silicon;
- Serial ATA (SATA): Microsemi actively contributes ATA and SAS-IO standards organizations and offers industry-leadingSAS/SATA technologies in our data center SAS/SATA RAID and HBA portfolio. Based on the industry’s first 28nm storage controller silicon, Microsemi SAS/SATA technologies deliver up to 40% power savings over competitive solutions, the lowest power solution available today;
- Service-Aware Switch Architecture: ViSAA™, short for Virtualized Service Aware Architecture, is the industry's only silicon-based implementation to provide Ethernet services sold by Carriers to their Enterprise customers. ViSAA enables equipment capabilities such as on-demand service creation, remote monitoring and troubleshooting, at lower power and cost and higher performance than competitive solutions;
- Silicon Carbide (SiC): SiC has a ten times higher breakdown field compared to Silicon (Si), a 3x higher band gap and 3x higher thermal conductivity. This means a lower Rdson in FETs and lower Vforward in Schottky Diodes, higher operating temperatures and higher current carrying capabilities. Microsemi’s unique and patented passivation method allows Microsemi’s SiC Schottky Diodes and SiC MOSFETs to have the highest reliability in the industry.
Ready to explore further? Contact your local Microsemi sales office today to find the right technologies and products for your design needs.
Miniaturization
Domain Expertise in Miniaturization
Electronics miniaturization and packaging are areas of domain expertise for Microsemi, based on our complete design and manufacture capability, combined with our continuous R&D programs and collaborations. Our miniaturization technologies are engineered to help our customers develop and rapidly bring next-generation miniaturized systems to market.
- Embedded Die Technology: Microsemi’s embedded die technology makes possible sub-system size reduction levels that would be unattainable using standard chip-on-board technology. Our embedded die technology enables practical implementations of systems on a package, delivering up to 70% in footprint savings versus the original PCB area;
- FPGA and SoCs: Microsemi provides industry-leading flash-based non-volatile FPGAs and SoCs for general-purpose applications in the Industrial, Communications, Defense, Medical and Space markets. Delivering highly differentiated solutions when security is vital, reliability is non-negotiable and power matters, Microsemi FPGAs and SoCs feature:
- Lower real estate than SRAM-based FPGAs that require external configuration memories
- 30% to 50% lower total power consumption compared to SRAM based FPGAs
- Instant-on capability, to assist in system start-up tasks, system configuration, and supervision during voltage ramp-up.
- RF Integration: Microsemi's RF integration capabilities range from the creation of extremely compact systems and sub-assemblies, through the unique Monolithic Microwave Surface Mount (MMSM) integrated RF packages, all the way to Monolithic SiGe technology for RF front end modules with 802.11ac support;
Ready to explore further? Contact your local Microsemi sales officetoday to find the right technologies and products for your design needs.
Reliability
Leading Technologies for Reliability
Reliability is deeply ingrained in Microsemi’s portfolio, which is one of the industry’s most comprehensive of semiconductor technology.
- FPGA and SoCs: Microsemi provides industry-leading flash-based non-volatile FPGAs and SoCs for general-purpose applications in the Industrial, Communications, Defense, Medical and Space markets. Delivering highly differentiated solutions when security is vital, reliability is non-negotiable and power matters, Microsemi FPGAs and SoCs feature:
- SEU immune FPGA configuration enabling reliable zero field failure in FPGA functionality / logic implementation related to SEU
- Layers of built-in security to make the software, supply chain and the network more secure
- Instant-on capability, to assist in system start-up tasks, system configuration, and supervision during voltage ramp-up
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over HDBaseT (PoH): Microsemi is the pioneer of Power over Ethernet, shipping PoE ICs and systems since 1998. PoE and PoH enable the deployment of Ethernet devices that consume up to 95W with centralized power backup and remote management capabilities. While PoE makes it simple to have a single Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) backing up multiple end-devices, Microsemi's Mutual Midspan Backup technology allows two stackable Managed Midspans to share two power supplies, creating a redundant power supply system without extra space requirements;
- Ruggedization: Microsemi ruggedization capabilities allows the creation of complex digital products to survive in the most stringent environments. With standard ruggedized SSDs, Memory, processors and discrete components in hermetic and thermal resistant packages;
- Service-Aware Switch Architecture: ViSAA™, short for Virtualized Service Aware Architecture, is the industry's only silicon-based implementation to simplify Ethernet business service provisioning and monitoring at greater scale and wire-speed performance. ViSAA enables equipment capabilities such as on-demand service creation, remote monitoring and troubleshooting, at lower power and cost and higher performance than competitive solutions;
- Silicon Carbide (SiC): SiC has a ten times higher breakdown field compared to Silicon (Si), a 3x higher band gap and 3x higher thermal conductivity. This means a lower Rdson in FETs and lower Vforward in Schottky Diodes, higher operating temperatures and higher current carrying capabilities. Microsemi’s unique and patented passivation method allows Microsemi’s SiC Schottky Diodes and SiC MOSFETs to have the highest reliability in the industry.
Ready to explore further? Contact your local Microsemi sales office today to find the right technologies and products for your design needs.
Security
Robust Technologies for Embedded Systems Security
Having served the Defense market for over five decades, our customers can leverage Microsemi’s extensive embedded systems security experience and deep systems expertise. Engineered to secure embedded systems from silicon to software, Microsemi’s security technologies, embedded in our solutions portfolio, enable robust protection for data-in-motion, data-in-use and data-at-rest.
- Controller-Based Encryption: Microsemi is a leader in controller-based encryption, having introduced the industry’s first controller-based encryption solution for data center in 2008. Our portfolio for data protection and security in the data center includes multiple industry firsts and innovations such as the industry’s first encryption-enabled HBA and smart stack encryption support in RAID.
- FPGA and SoCs: Microsemi provides industry-leading flash-based non-volatile FPGAs and SoCs for general-purpose applications in the Industrial, Communications, Defense, Medical and Space markets. Delivering highly differentiated solutions when security is vital, reliability is non-negotiable and power matters, Microsemi FPGAs and SoCs feature:
- Layers of built-in security to make the software, supply chain and the network more secure
- Instant-on capability, to assist in system start-up tasks, system configuration, and supervision during voltage ramp-up
- GPS Threat Protection and Security: Microsemi security technologies enable off-the-shelf and custom security solutions, lowering cost, improving time-to-market and reducing security risks when integrating security products with limited resources. Microsemi's secure technologies enable link layer security, equipment security, secure key management, supply chain security, design security, secure position, navigation and timing (PNT) and secure authentication.
Ready to explore further? Contact your local Microsemi sales office today to find the right technologies and products for your design needs.
Time Accuracy
Premier Technologies for Time Accuracy & Precision
Microsemi is the world’s leading source of accurate and precise time solutions, delivering the industry’s most complete timing and synchronization solutions portfolio. Based on our deep systems understanding of how timing is generated and distributed, Microsemi enables our customers to bring the most precise network timing for operations and applications across industries.
- Time Accuracy: Microsemi is the industry's only supplier of end-to-end packet-based synchronization technology portfolio based on IEEE 1588. Microsemi provides the most complete product portfolio along with understanding of how timing is generated and distributed, enabling accurate and precise network synchronization. Microsemi portfolio of products and solutions include:
- IEEE 1588 PTP source / master equipment called Grand Masters supporting various capabilities of PTP, NTP and other timing protocols. Microsemi portfolio includes range of timing equipment supporting various input and output connections, number of clients as well as form factors. These serve a variety of end markets including wireless and wireline infrastructure, cable, smart grid/power line as well as data center applications.
- Our newest timing system, Integrated Grand Master (IGM), integrates an indoor GPS receiver and antenna in compact form factor ideally suited to small cell and HetNet scenarios
- Atomic Clocks for Holdover timing, NTP Servers and the TimePictra Software Suite that allows service providers to see a complete picture of Timing and Synchronization in their networks
- Enhanced Primary Reference Time Clock (ePRTC) technology designed to address the growing issue of GNSS vulnerability which “generates time” by producing its own independent time scale aligned with GNSS, while maintaining autonomous phase, time, and frequency signal outputs
- GPS Threat Protection and Security against GPS jamming and spoofing attempts against critical infrastructure
- Components enabling network equipment to implement high accuracy IEEE 1588 node
- High accuracy, low jitter PLLs with miTimePLL™ timing and synchronization technology specifically designed to encompass all the packet network requirements for frequency, phase and time
- Ethernet PHYs with highly accurate time stamp including IEEE 802.1AE MACsec
- Software enabling network equipment to implement high accuracy IEEE 1588 node: highly evolved servo algorithm extracting accurate timing in complex network with multiple hops and asymmetry of the network and PTP stack
- Service-Aware Switch Architecture: ViSAA™, short for Virtualized Service Aware Architecture, is the industry's only silicon-based implementation to provide Ethernet services sold by Carriers to their Enterprise customers. With inherent SyncE and IEEE 1588 protocol support, ViSAA works in tandem with CEServices software and Microsemi's ViSAA-enabled Carrier Ethernet switches to enable equipment capabilities such as on-demand service creation, remote monitoring and troubleshooting, at lower power and cost and higher performance than competitive solutions.
Ready to explore further? Contact your local Microsemi sales office today to find the right technologies and products for your design needs.