NORTEL NETWORKS ACQUIRES ALTEON WEBSYSTEMS FOR ITS WEB SWITCHES
Nortel Networks will acquire Alteon WebSystems, a provider of content aware switching, in a stock swap valued at about US$7.8 billion (July 27 prices).  Nortel Network said the acquisition would give it a first-mover advantage in integrating Internet data centers with high-performance optical and 3G wireless networks.  Alteon WebSystems pioneered the concept of Web switching and holds the leading market share in Layer 4-7 switching.  Its customer base includes Yahoo!, Excite@Home, Buy.com, NTT, DLJDirect, CitySearch-Ticketmaster Online, Exodus, Loudcloud, Digex, ISPs UUNet, Cable & Wireless, Virgin, Global Crossing, ICG Communications, GTE Internet, Concentric Networks and Microsoft WebTV.  http://www.nortelnetworks.com/   http://www.alteonwebsystems.com/
Nortel Networks, July 28, 2000

• Earlier this month, Alteon announced plans to combine Web switching and appliance technologies in an Integrated ServiceDirector (iSD) delivery platform capable of offloading specific compute-intensive functions from servers. The new Alteon iSD products, which include an SSL accelerator that scales to gigabit speeds and an "Akamizer" content device, will perform the processing tasks with long duty-cycles that would otherwise bog down network performance. A stack of iSDs attached to an Alteon Web switch via 10, 100 or 1,000 Mbps links would function as a gigantic virtual application engine.  
  
• Alteon WebSystems, which was founded in 1996, completed its IPO in September 1999.  The company is based in San Jose, California and has 500+ employees.
  
• In May, Cisco Systems announced plans to acquire ArrowPoint Communications, another developer of content-aware Web switches, in stock swap valued at $5.7 billion at the time.

TERAWAVE INTRODUCES PASSIVE OPTICAL PLANNING TOOLS
Terawave Communications, a start-up based in Hayward, California, introduced a set of network planning and management tools for deploying passive optical networks (PONs).  The software determines the amount of required fiber and network equipment while optimizing network topologies and requisite QoS parameters.  A Java-based PON management application facilitates the Operations, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning (OAM&P) and offers a CORBA interface.  http://www.terawave.com
Terawave, July 31, 2000

• Terawave recently introduced a multi-gigabit passive optical network (PON) solution for "first mile" optical access to small- and medium-size enterprises.  The modular system uses Optical Line Terminals (OLT) and Optical Network Terminals (ONT) to deliver symmetrical 622 Mbps single fiber connections.  Terawave's custom ASICs and Service Adaptive Lightpath Switching Architecture make QoS and lightpath switching decisions across the PON, allowing any granularity of bandwidth to be statistically shared among subscribers while guaranteeing a specified amount of bandwidth for each stream. Terawave is led by Ray Lin, the former co-founder and CEO of Premisys.

BELL LABS DEVELOPS ORGANIC LASERS
Researchers at Bell Labs have developed the first electrically powered organic laser, a development that could lead to much cheap lasers than those based on inorganic materials, such as gallium arsenide.  The organic laser operates at a visible wavelength, so it is not yet appropriate for optical communications.  Potential applications could include optical storage device or laser printers.  http://www.lucent.com/press/0700/000728.bla.html
Lucent Technologies, July 28, 2000

MESHNETWORKS NAMES CEO, TARGETS MOBILE INTERNET MULTIMEDIA
MeshNetworks, a spin-off of MILCOM Technologies, named Masood Garahi its CEO.  The company plans to offer a mobile Internet multimedia communications platform using technology developed by ITT Industries to meet Department of Defense (DOD) requirements for a battlefield, handheld terminal supporting voice, data and video communications.  Mr. Garahi formerly served as CTO of the TV Games Division or TV Guide.  MeshNetworks has first round venture funding from MILCOM, BancBoston Capital and Patricof & Co.   http://www.meshnetworks.com/
MeshNetworks, July 28, 2000

MILCOM specializes in commercializing military technologies through licensing agreements with leading defense firms.  MILCOM's communications portfolio includes:

Triton Network Systems, consecutive point, broadband wireless radios . Ccompleted an IPO in June 2000.  http://www.triton-network.com/

Centerpoint Broadband Technologies, optical networking that uses a Subcarrier Multiplexing (SCM) technology to scale bandwidth capacities without using DWDM.  Centerpoint's SCM technology takes a digital input signal and modulates it into a radio frequency (RF) signal.  http://www.centerpoint.com/

TeraNex, ultra-high performance image processing technology specifically designed to perform real-time video processing, pattern recognition and image analysis.

Theseus Logic, clockless" Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) aimed at portable digital devices such as cellular phones and other semiconductor applications.  http://www.theseus.com

SkyCross, next generation antenna technology for mobile and fixed communications .
http://www.milcomtech.com

FRIDAY IPOs: AVICI SYSTEMS UP 212%, TERABIT SWITCH/ROUTING
Shares in Avici Systems (Nasdaq: AVCI) soared 212% on their first day of public trading to close at 96 ¾.  Avici is developing a terabit switch/router designed to scale to up 2,240 OC-48 or 560 OC-192 connections.  Avici was founded in 1996 and is based in N. Billerica, MA.  http://www.avici.com/
July 28, 2000

FRIDAY IPOs: CORVIS UP 135%, LONG-HAUL OPTICAL
Shares in Corvis Corp. (Nasdaq: CORV) rose 135% over its initial public offering price of 36 to close on Friday at 84 23/32.  Corvis offers a long-haul optical platform allows the transmission of signals up to 3,200 kilometers without electrical regeneration.  The system is designed to support OC-48 and OC-192(c) IP services, as well as SONET devices and ATM.  Corvis is led by Dr. David Huber, who previously founded Ciena and developed its 16-channel DWDM platform.  The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Columbia, Maryland.  http://www.corvis.com
July 28, 2000

FRIDAY IPOs: WEBEX UP 136%, WEB-BASED MEETING SERVICES
Webex (Nasdaq: WEBX) completed its IPO on Friday, rising 136% over its listed price.  The WebEx Meeting Center, which is offered on a subscription basis, provides real-time data collaboration (whiteboards and presentation software), as well as audio and video conferencing through a standard browser.  The company has previously disclosed strategic investments from Oracle and Global Crossing to scale its service.  It has also announced a partnership with Net2Phone to incorporate Internet telephony features.  The company was founded in 1996 and is based in San Jose, California.  http://www.webex.com
July 28, 2000