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We like to think that when we deposit a dollar at the bank, it goes into a big vault and we can pull out that same dollar at any time. But that¿s not how the U.S. banking system works. Banks take that money and invest it to make money themselves, so cash gets spread around. This, naturally, leads to a big risk: What happens if those investments go sour? Well, you¿d be out of luck. You can¿t get your dollar back.
The Federal Reserve doesn¿t like that scenario, so it prohibits banks from putting all the cash it has on deposit on the line. In fact, the Fed forces banks to keep a portion of their assets at the Federal Reserve itself, to make sure that some of your assets won¿t get squandered if the bank¿s bets go south. These are called ¿reserves,¿ (hence, Federal Reserve. Got it? Good), and usually amount to 10% of the total cash kept in checking accounts.
These reserves are never exactly 10%, and banks like to keep a little extra in reserve ¿ not, as you might think, to make you more comfortable that they¿re in good financial shape, but rather so they can take that excess and lend it to other banks and make money off it. (They¿re banks, they can¿t help themselves.) The rate at which they make these loans is called the Federal Funds rate, which is set by the Federal Reserve¿s Federal Open Market Committee.
When you hear people chattering about how the Fed cut or hiked interest rates, this is what they¿re talking about: the interest rate banks can charge for lending money from their reserves. This begs the question: If these are essentially loans between banks, why is the Fed Funds rate so important for the rest of the economy?
Well, simply put, because loans make the financial world go round. Bank A lends Bank B $10,000 at a Fed Funds rate of 5%. Bank B then lends out $10,000 to a small business at 7%. The small business then takes that money and expands the business and hires new workers. Now someone is employed, Bank B has made interest off the loan, and Bank A is the richer for making it all happen. It¿s perhaps overly simplistic, but you get the idea. When you want the economy to thrive, you make lending cheaper.
Of course, sometimes you don¿t want the economy to thrive. In fact, you might want it to cool down, mostly to avoid money flooding the system and causing inflation. In that case, the Fed raises interest rates, making it difficult to lend or borrow.
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Monday, May 05, 2008
Altera's Stratix III FPGAs Support SGMII on LVDS I/Os
Comtex
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 05, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) today announced its Stratix(R) III FPGAs support Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII) on its LVDS I/Os. Offering interface speeds of 1.25 Gbps and meeting SGMII's stringent jitter performance requirements, Stratix III LVDS I/Os support triple-speed Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps) interfaces without transceivers. Stratix III FPGAs are the industry's first programmable logic devices able to support Gigabit Ethernet SGMII on LVDS pins, offering lower costs, lower power and more interfaces per device.
The SGMII I/Os featured in Stratix III FPGAs allow the device to connect to Gigabit Ethernet ports through small form-factor pluggable (SFP) optical modules. Using Stratix III FPGA's LVDS channels, customers can integrate a large number of Gigabit Ethernet channels in high-port-count applications, such as 96-port SGMII switches.
"Stratix III FPGAs were designed to deliver tremendous value to customers with an unmatched combination of low power, high performance and high density," said David Greenfield, senior director of product marketing, high-end products, at Altera Corporation. "The high data rate speeds and low jitter performance offered by Stratix III FPGA's LVDS I/Os provide wireline applications a cost-effective SGMII Gigabit Ethernet interface."
Stratix III FPGA LVDS channels support Gigabit Ethernet SGMII as a result of the architecture's low jitter performance, dynamic phase aligner (DPA) and soft clock-data recovery (CDR) mode. Soft-CDR, which is implemented in the programmable fabric as IP, supports SGMII by extracting the clock out of the clock-embedded data.
Availability
Altera's Stratix III FPGAs, offering Gigabit Ethernet SGMII connectivity on its LVDS I/Os, are available now. To view a demonstration video showing how to build a 96-port SGMII Gigabit Ethernet with Stratix III FPGAs, visit www.altera.com/b/stxiii-sgmii-poweropt-videos.html. For additional information about Altera's high-density, high-performance Stratix III FPGAs and their support for SGMII, visit www.altera.com/technology/high_speed/protocols/sgmii/pro-sgmii.html.
About Altera
Altera(R) programmable solutions enable system and semiconductor companies to rapidly and cost-effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. Find out more at www.altera.com.
Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, the stylized Altera logo, specific device designations and all other words that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless noted otherwise, the trademarks and service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holder.
SOURCE: Altera Corporation
Altera Corporation Steve Gabriel, 408-544-6397 newsroom@altera.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
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