Advanced Telecommunications Modules Ltd has competition. A newcomer, MMC Networks Inc, out of Santa Clara, California claims to have the first fully-integrated Asynchronous Transfer Mode switch chip set. It promises that the set will cut the cost of the multimedia switches by 50% immediately, and reckons that once everyone is up the learning curve, prices could fall by 90%. With the new ATMS2000, the company estimates that end-user per post costs will fall to around $350 in two to three years, and could drop below $200 by the end of the decade; MMC is selling the chip set – which is shipping now in sample quantities – at a price of $62.50 per port for a 32-port, 155Mbps per port, configuration. The set uses a new, patented much-simplified shared memory architecture that the company calls ViX; ViX is claimed to eliminate the need for shared-memory buses, and high pin count chips. The ATMS2000 set consists of four components: 2001 memory access buffer; 2002 port interface and 2003 and 2004 switch controllers. A 32-port switch would require 16 chips in total: one 2003, one 2004, six 2001s and eight 2002s and cost $2,000 for 1,000-up sets. MMC has already won Marlborough, Massachusetts-based CrossComm Corp as a supporter: CrossComm says it will use ViX-based chips in its next-generation Asynchronous Mode products, which are due for launch later this year. MMC claims that other major vendors have signed up, but is not naming names at present. For the future, MMC says it is planning to develop ViX-based switch chip sets for other types of network including switched Ethernet and switched Token Ring, and that the cost of these can also be expected to plunge. The prices look lower than those charged by Advanced Telecommunications Modules for its Virata Switch (CI No 2,653); the Cambridge, UK firm’s US partner, First Virtual Corp, talks of $500 to $800 per user with its version of the kit.
