Over the years, 2Wire has earned a reputation for building very reliable modems.
2Wire kit will often maintain a stable connection on a defective line when other modems have long since given up the ghost.
This enhanced performance has been attributed to the higher quality components found in 2Wire equipment. In particular, 2Wire’s choice in Analog Front End (AFE) and Line Driver chipsets.
While that may be partly true, it tells only half the story.
As documented below, the DSL chipsets found in 2Wire kit are varied, coming from a number of manufacturers. Hardware alone cannot explain the superior performance. Efficient DSP codecs must also play their part.
Below is some product documentation for the DSL chipsets used in the 2Wire range of Home Gateways:
The 2Wire 1800 uses an SiLabs DSL chipset. It is the SiLabs Si3101 in a 44-pin TQFP housing. The Si3101 is capable of ADSL2 but not ADSL2+. The IC was launched Q4 2002.
[1] SiLabs Si3101 – Integrated ADSL Analog Front End – product brief
[2] SiLabs Si3101 – Si3110 – ADSL2/ADSL2+ AFE / line driver / codec hybrid VCXO – product brief
[3] SiLabs Si3101 – Si3110 – Broadband & Voice Telephony Solutions – product brief
The 2Wire 2700 uses an STMicro AFE. It is the ADSL2+ capable STMicro ST20184 in a 100-pin TQFP housing. The IC was launched Q1 2005
[4] STMicro ST20184 – ADSL2+ AFE for CPE – datasheet
[5] STMicro ST20190 – ST20184 Utopia ADSL2+ solution for CPE (in 2Wires, the TM3260 instead of ST2019x handles DSP work)
The 2Wire 2701 and the 2Wire 2071a (exclusive to the Ozzie market) both use an ADSL2+ chipset from SiLabs. It is the SiLab Si3112. This is an updated version of the Si3110 in a 44-pin TQFP housing. The Si3110 was launched Q2 2004.
[6] SiLabs Si3101 – Si3110 – ADSL2/ADSL2+ AFE / line driver / codec hybrid VCXO – product brief
[7] SiLabs Si3101 – Si3110 – Broadband & Voice Telephony Solutions – product brief
The 2Wire 3600 uses an Ikanos (was Conexant) DSL chipset. It is the Accelity DA8-7781 AFE in a 288-pin TSSOP and a BA6-7779 Digital Signal Processor in a 160-pin PBGA package. The Accelity VDSL2 chipset for CPE was launched Q2 2005.
[8] Ikanos DA87781- Accelity VDSL2 CPE chipset – product brief
[9] Conexant DA87781 – Accelity VDSL2 CPE Chipset – product brief
The 2Wire 3800 has two chipsets. One for cable, one for twisted pair. The AD9865 AFE chipset from ADI manages the coax signal. It is in a 64-lead LFCSP package. Launched 2004. The second modem chipset in the 3800 is the Ikanos (was Conexant) Accelity DA87781 VDSL2 AFE in a 288-pin TSSOP and a BA6-7779 DSP in a 160-pin PBGA. Launched Q2 2005.
[10] Ikanos DA87781- Accelity VDSL2 CPE chipset – product brief
[11] Conexant DA87781 – Accelity VDSL2 CPE Chipset – product brief
[12] Analog Devices AD9865 – AFE datasheet
The 2Wire 3801 uses a PM4380 Analog Front End for VDSL2/ADSL2+ from PMC-Sierra. The PM4380 is in a 56-pin QFN package and was launched Q2 2006. The Gateway also has a CopperGate (now Sigma Designs) HomeHPNA chipset. It is the CG3210H comprising a CG3123 Analog Front End in a 64-pin VQFN package, and a CG3211 Coax/POTS to ethernet bridge controller in a 128-pin TQFP. The CG3210 chipset was launched Q1 2008.
[13] PMC-Sierra PM4380 VDSL2/ADSL2+ AFE Product Brief
[14] CopperGate CG3210H – online brief (local copy)
[15] CopperGate CG3210H – AFE / MAC/PHY product brief
Just wanted to say thank you very much for launching this foray into trying to declaw/sanitise the 2Wire modem/routers. They are excellent pieces of hardware and I have long been frustrated that there has been little in the way of customisation of these devices especially given the state of the openwrt project on other cheaper routers. I have a few of the 2700HGV that I have been hanging on to in the hope that I would get time to really pull them apart but it seems you have the jump on me given you seem to have a much better knowledge of the TriMedia CPU’s and JTAG debugging. Not that I have not done JTAG debugging before but that is going back to an iPaq 3630 somewhere in the mists of time
All I wanted to say is much Kudos to your efforts and if there is anything I can do to help, test, blow up let me know and I will donate one of my 2700HGV’s to it.
Hi Don,
Thank you for your kind words. Any help would be greatly appreciated! The JTAG tool for the TriMedia is pretty much working okay now. With a very small amount of tweaking it should work fine with the 2700HGV.
The code is yet to be tested with any parallel port JTAG cables. I had hoped to do that, but it’s quite an upheaval to build an obsolete PC just to test the parallel port
You are welcome to have the JTAG programmer source code if you want to hack away at it. It’s all open source. Please give me a shout if so
Similarly for anyone else interested.
The big challenge is to reverse engineer the flash file system used in the 2Wires. Some inquiries have been made on the linux-mtd mailing list, but no clues yet on the nature of the file system in these devices. The file system is something esoteric and probably proprietary.
cheers, a