DESCRIPTION

The Unicorn II chipset is designed to simplify the development of low-cost ADSL CPE modems for Windows, Mac and Linux based environments and enables manufacturers to achieve a very competitive production cost. Due to its controller-less architecture and particularly the advantage that it does not require an external SDRAM in its E-BOM, the total cost of the external components needed in the modem is the best in its class. With a low component count of less then 140 external components and small form factor packages, the Unicorn II easily fits on a standard 2 layer single sided PCB with small dimensions which contributes significantly to further lowering overall system costs. Together with its low power consumption, highspeed performance up to 8 Mbps and customizable complete software driver packages, the Unicorn II is the ideal choice for USB and PCI based ADSL modems.

STANDARDS COMPLIANCE AND INTEROPERABILITY

Eleven years of experience have enabled ST to develop a chipset that offers full compatibility with all current full-rate and G.lite ADSL standards, USB standards including plug-and-play support. The Unicorn II chipset has a comprehensive driver suite that supports Windows, Mac and Linux. The Unicorn is fully interoperable with all major DSLAMs and is compliant to TR-048 (DSLforum) and ETSI 101 388 performance requirements.

Protocols Supported

■ RFC 2684 bridged (LLC/SNAP and VCMUX)

- replacing RFC 1483

■ RFC 2684 routed (LLC/SNAP and VCMUX)

- replacing RFC 1483

■ RFC 2364 PPP over ATM (LLC and VCMUX)

■ RFC 2516 PPP over Ethernet (LLC and VCMUX)

■ RFC 2225 Classical IP over ATM 2.2 ATM and ATM adaptation support

■ VPI range: 0 - 255

■ VCI range: 32 - 65535.

■ UNI 3.0, 3.1, 4.0 signaling

■ TR37 (auto-configuration)

■ UBR, CBR (with customizable parameters)

■ AAL0, AAL5

SOFTWARE SUITE

Unicorn shipping package includes a complete set of field proven software drivers and tools for Windows, Mac and Linux, including PC software for modem control and communications protocols. The software drivers are fully configurable and include diagnostic tools which are specifically developed to minimize operator helpdesk interference.

Software interface

■ NDIS WAN or NDIS5-ATM PCI driver and USB driver

■ MAC / Linux OS: Open Transport driver

OS support

■ Win98, Win98SE, WinME, Win2K, WinXP

■ MAC OS 8.6 till 10.3.x

■ Up to Linux kernel 2.6.x 3.3 Hardware interfaces

■ USB connector or PCI interface

■ RJ11 connector 3.4 Maximum supported speed

■ 8Mbps downstream

■ 1Mbps upstream