SATURN Development Group
Encyclopedia
The SATURN Development Group was an important industry forum that enabled the specification of chip-to-chip interfaces for the communications industry. It was co-founded in 1992 by PMC-Sierra
and Sun Microsystems
. Several significant specifications were completed through its actions including PL-2, PL-3
, and PL-4
. Many important semiconductor devices were developed to these specifications. SATURN was also influential in the specification of the ATM Forum
's physical layer "UTOPIA" standards.
Initial members included SynOptics
and Interphase
. The first meeting was held in April of 1992. By August of 1993, the SATURN group had 28 members.
After the formation of the Optical Internetworking Forum
(OIF), two of the SATURN group's interfaces were successfully adopted by OIF. The PL-3
specification became SPI-3
and the PL-4
specification became SPI-4.2
. The existence of the OIF also eliminated the need for the SATURN Development Group, and it was wound down around 2002.
PMC-Sierra
PMC-Sierra is a fabless semiconductor company which develops and sells devices into the communications, storage, printing, and embedded computing marketplaces.-Corporate history:...
and Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
. Several significant specifications were completed through its actions including PL-2, PL-3
PL-3
PL-3 or POS-PHY Level 3 was the name of the interface that the Optical Internetworking Forum's SPI-3 Interoperability Agreement is based on. It was proposed by PMC-Sierra to the Optical Internetworking Forum and adopted in June of 2000. The name means Packet Over SONET Physical layer level 3...
, and PL-4
PL-4
PL-4 or POS-PHY Level 4 was the name of the interface that the interface SPI-4.2 is based on. It was proposed by PMC-Sierra to the Optical Internetworking Forum. The name means Packet Over SONET Physical layer level 4. PL-4 was developed by PMC-Sierra in conjunction with the Saturn Development...
. Many important semiconductor devices were developed to these specifications. SATURN was also influential in the specification of the ATM Forum
ATM Forum
The ATM Forum was founded in 1991 to be the industry consortium to promote Asynchronous Transfer Mode technology used in telecommunication networks. It was a non-profit international organization. The ATM Forum created over 200 implementation agreements....
's physical layer "UTOPIA" standards.
Initial members included SynOptics
SynOptics
SynOptics Communications was a Santa Clara, California-based early computer network equipment vendor from 1985 until 1994, when it began a series of mergers....
and Interphase
Interphase
Interphase is the phase of the cell cycle in which the cell spends the majority of its time and performs the majority of its purposes including preparation for cell division. In preparation for cell division, it increases its size and makes a copy of its DNA...
. The first meeting was held in April of 1992. By August of 1993, the SATURN group had 28 members.
After the formation of the Optical Internetworking Forum
Optical Internetworking Forum
The Optical Internetworking Forum is a non-profit, member-driven organization founded in 1998. It promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements for optical networking products, network processing...
(OIF), two of the SATURN group's interfaces were successfully adopted by OIF. The PL-3
PL-3
PL-3 or POS-PHY Level 3 was the name of the interface that the Optical Internetworking Forum's SPI-3 Interoperability Agreement is based on. It was proposed by PMC-Sierra to the Optical Internetworking Forum and adopted in June of 2000. The name means Packet Over SONET Physical layer level 3...
specification became SPI-3
SPI-3
SPI-3 or System Packet Interface Level 3 is the name of a chip-to-chip, channelized, packet interface widely used in high-speed communications devices. It was proposed by PMC-Sierra based on their PL-3 interface to the Optical Internetworking Forum and adopted in June of 2000...
and the PL-4
PL-4
PL-4 or POS-PHY Level 4 was the name of the interface that the interface SPI-4.2 is based on. It was proposed by PMC-Sierra to the Optical Internetworking Forum. The name means Packet Over SONET Physical layer level 4. PL-4 was developed by PMC-Sierra in conjunction with the Saturn Development...
specification became SPI-4.2
SPI-4.2
SPI-4.2 is a version of the System Packet Interface published by the Optical Internetworking Forum. It was designed to be used in systems that support OC-192 SONET interfaces and is sometimes used in 10 Gigabit Ethernet based systems....
. The existence of the OIF also eliminated the need for the SATURN Development Group, and it was wound down around 2002.