To address the need for reliable and secure connectivity solutions in smart factories, remote monitoring and connected infrastructure, Microchip Technology now provides Optical Ethernet PHY transceivers in 25 Gbps and 10 Gbps options, and featuring IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and Media Access Control Security (MACsec) encryption.
The transceivers provide a secure, deterministic and scaleable alternative to traditional copper-based Ethernet solutions. They support link lengths of up to 10km over single-mode fibre for seamless deployments over dispersed infrastructure such as company and college campuses or warehouses. The integration of PTP time stamping delivers sub-nanosecond (<1ns) synchronisation accuracy across distributed nodes. This level of timing precision is essential for time-sensitive applications such as industrial automation, telecommunications and robotics.
“Design engineers are looking for solutions that simplify complex networking systems, adding PTP or MACsec could mean a complete overhaul of an existing design, our solution helps preserve our customers’ core-processing investment,” said Charlie Forni, corporate vice president of Microchip’s networking and connectivity solutions business. “We’ve integrated these capabilities into our transceivers, enabling bolt-on functionality to help engineers build smarter, more secure and scaleable networks.”
To help safeguard sensitive data in connected environments, security is integrated at the silicon level with support for MACsec (IEEE 802.1AE) encryption. This hardware-based implementation protects against network data breaches by encrypting traffic between Ethernet devices. MACsec is designed to thwart common cyberattacks including man-in-the-middle attacks, denial-of-service (DoS), eavesdropping and spoofing, to ensure data integrity across the network.
