DSP subsystem speeds access solution development

Surf Communication Solutions has announced the upcoming availability of its SurfRider-144T family of access solutions targeted to remote access servers, media gateways, next-generation switches, and other types of OEM equipment requiring modem, VoIP and FoIP services. SurfRider is provided as a complete reference design hardware multi-DSP subsystem including the industry's leading Surf Multi-access Pool (SMP) DSP software and SMPEngine host interface software. The SurfRider family's hardware reference design is used to produce a PMC module.

OEMs can use this standard format to design general-purpose motherboards onto which the SurfRiders are then attached.

The SurfRider uses the PMC mezzanine connector for Fast Ethernet, ATM and TDM connectivity.

This modular approach has distinct advantages in upgrading the DSP subsystem as more advanced DSPs become available and for reducing development, maintenance and production costs.

The channel processing power of the SurfRiders is accessed using Surf's hardware- independent SMPEngine software.

This message based operating system independent interface remains unchanged when a given SurfRider is upgraded to one with more advanced DSPs providing greater channel density (such as the migration from the SR240M to the SR672M).

"The SurfRider is the culmination of intensive system architecture analysis.

We had to overcome significant design challenges in order to provide maximum throughput and channel density while relieving the host controller of most data-handling tasks", said Avi Fisher Surf's CTO.

"We are confident that our customers will slash their time-to-market using a design with proven performance and will slash their costs by building the modules based on our design instead of having to purchase ready-made boards from a 3rd party or by entering into costly and time consuming in-house engineering events".

The key to fast integration of the SurfRider is in the SMPEngine host interface application.

The SMPEngine runs on the host controller and passes messages between the host controller and the DSPs on the SurfRider.

"The SMPEngine enables OEMs to integrate the SurfRider modules rapidly from a software perspective", said Arnon Netzer Surf's VP of Software Engineering.

"The SMPEngine is a simple interface with only a few functions but provides complete control and monitoring visibility of each and every channel running on the SurfRider module.

We invested considerable software engineering efforts to completely abstract hardware issues from the host application.

This means that SurfRider modules can be replaced in the future with more advanced ones without having to rewrite the host application and that the SurfRider can be integrated quickly into the OEM system".

The SurfRider modules contain multiple DSPs, all running Surf's leading SMP software for V.92 modem, VoIP, FoIP, ISDN and Modem Relay over IP (V.MoIP) services.

In addition to the SMP, additional DSP farm management software has been integrated into the subsystem so that all of the DSPs operate in parallel as a cohesive unit.

The business model behind the SurfRider is licensing intellectual property from Surf allowing the OEM to produce the boards using internal manufacturing capabilities.

Surf will provide a limited number of actual hardware boards for easy evaluation of integration efforts.

While the SurfRider family is an off-the-shelf product, both the hardware and software customisations can be provided by Surf as an added value.

The first version of the SurfRider, the SR240M, will provide 240 universal ports (voice, fax, modem) or 672 (DS3) ports of voice and fax only.

The SR240M will be available in Q4 of 2001.

The next SurfRider, SR672M, scheduled for Q2 2002, will triple channel densities to 672 unified ports or 2016 (OC-3) VoIP or VoATM channels.