Fulcrum's Alta switch chips add programmable pipeline to keep pace with standards

Briefing:  Data centre switching 

Part 2: Ethernet switch chips

Fulcrum Microsystems has announced its latest FocalPoint chip family of Ethernet switches. The Alta FM6000 series family supports up to 72 10-Gigabit ports and can process over one billion packets a second.

“Instead of every top-of-rack switch having a CPU subsystem, you could put all the horsepower into a set of server blades”

Gary Lee, Fulcrum Microsystems

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Packet optical transport: Hollowing the network core

Intune Networks has developed an optical packet switching and transport (OPST) system that effectively turns fibre into a distributed switch.

The platform enables a fully-meshed metropolitan networkIntune Networks' CEO, Tim Fritzley (right) and John Dunne, co-founder and CTO with software support for web-based services, claims the Irish start-up. 

“What we have designed allows for the sharing of the same fibre switching assets across multiple services in the metro,” says Tim Fritzley, Intune’s CEO.

The company is in talks with several operators about its OPST system, which is being used for a nationwide network in Ireland. The system is also part of an EC seventh framework project that includes Spanish operator Telefónica.

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Rafik Ward Q&A - final part

In the second and final part, Rafik Ward, vice president of marketing at Finisar, discusses Google’s call for a new 100 Gig interface, the ECOC show, and what Finisar has learnt from running a corporate blog.

 

"Feedback we are getting from customers is that the current 100 Gig LR4 modules are too expensive"

Rafik Ward, Finisar

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Is Broadcom’s chip powering Juniper’s Stratus?

Briefing:  Data centre switching

Part 1: Single-layer switch architectures

Juniper Networks’ Stratus switch architecture, designed for next-generation data centres, is several months away from trials. First detailed in 2009, Stratus is being engineered as a single-layer switch with an architecture that will scale to support tens of thousands of 10 Gigabit-per-second (Gbps) ports.

Stratus will be in customer trials in early 2011.

Andy Ingram, Juniper Networks

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Q&A with Rafik Ward - Part 1

In the first of a two-part interview, Rafik Ward, vice president of marketing at Finisar, talks about 40 and 100 Gigabit optics, emerging market opportunities and why this is the best time for a decade to be in the optical components industry.   

"This is probably the strongest growth we have seen since the last bubble of 1999-2000." Rafik Ward, Finisar

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Google and the optical component industry

Google caused a stir at ECOC by requesting a new 100 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) interface, claiming the existing 100 Gigabit standards fall short of what is needed.

According to a report by Pauline Rigby, Google wants something in between two existing IEEE interface standards. The 100GBase-SR10, which has 10 parallel channels and a 125m span, has too short a reach for Google.

“What is good for an 800-pound gorilla is not necessarily good for the industry. It [Google] should have been at the table when the IEEE was working on the standard."

Daryl Inniss, practice leader, components, Ovum

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Cisco Systems' coherent power move

Cisco Systems’ acquisition of CoreOptics means the company has largely cornered the coherent market, says Telecom Pragmatics. 

Cisco Systems announced its intent to acquire the optical transmission specialist CoreOptics back in May. CoreOptics has digital signal processing expertise used to enhance high-speed long-haul dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical transmission. Cisco’s acquisition values the German company at US $99m.

"Let me be clear, we don’t believe 100Gbps serial will dominate the market for a long time, or 40Gbps for that matter"

Mark Lutkowitz, Telecom Pragmatics

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