ALLENTOWN, Pa., May 1 -- Agere Systems announced a second-generation, eight-million-gate system-on-a-chip (SoC) that performs all the framing, mapping and multiplexing functions needed to move voice and data traffic between copper-based network access facilities such as T1/E1 lines, access multiplexers or routers; and high-speed access and transport facilities such as DS3 and SONET/SDH systems.
    Called Ultra Mapper, the SoC packs three times more circuitry on a single chip than Agere's highly successful Super Mapper product, introduced in 1999 to aggregate traffic in various protocols from several different types of network edge facilities for transport over high-bandwidth fiber optic facilities. Ultra Mapper's increased integration can help network equipment manufacturers host more circuit terminations per circuit board, which in-turn allows systems to handle more bandwidth. That can make it easier and more economical for service providers to boost network capacity and offer new services.
    "When we introduced the Super Mapper chip two years ago, we touted its ability to replace eight or more separate ICs, thereby reducing system costs and power consumption," said Craig Garen, general manager for broadband access solutions at Agere Systems. "Now Ultra Mapper raises the bar with higher integration, add-drop functionality and other new features, and upwardly compatible software that will let today's Super Mapper users easily incorporate our new chip into their new system designs."