NOVA CRYSTALS DEVELOPS 1.3-MICRON VCSEL, EXTENDING GIGABIT OVER 40 KM
Nova Crystals, a start-up based in San Jose, California, demonstrated an electrically pumped, 1.3-micron vertical cavity surface emitting laser diode (VCSEL) that it claims will produce a continuous wave (CW) output power of 1 mW (without active cooling), a bandwidth of 2.5 Gbps and an operating voltage of less than 2 V.  The transmission capabilities of the device are rated at 40 km without the need for repeaters and amplifiers.  Nova Crystals said its technology lends itself to low-cost, high-volume manufacture, making it suitable for longer-reach Gigabit Ethernet /Fiber-Channel modules for LAN/WAN systems, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks, low-cost WDM systems and other SONET/SDH applications.  Sampling is expected in October.  http://www.novacrystals.com
Nova Crystals, August 4, 2000

• Nova Crystals was founded in September 1998 by former Cornell University researchers Dr. Yu-Hwa Lo and Dr. Felix Ejeckam.  Last October, Nova Crystals, in cooperation with Cornell and Sandia National Labs, demonstrated a means to create GaAs vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) on a silicon substrate.  The process technology is expected to improve significantly manufacturing techniques for optical components.

NEC DEVELOPS 1394 SWITCH CHIP FOR HOME NETWORKS
NEC announced a switching chip for home networks based on the IEEE 1394 "Fire Wire" high-speed serial bus standard.  NEC said its prototype 2-port switch chip conforms to the IEEE P1394.1 bridge specifications and utilizes its own network clock synchronization technology.  The device provides hardware packet routing between two IEEE1394 buses with the equivalent throughput to a full IEEE1394 bus, while maintaining full compatibility with legacy IEEE1394 devices.  NEC's firmware also provides the ability to support wireless media for IEEE1394 in the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) and 5GHz bands.  The LSI might also be used as a relay for long distance IEEE1394 communications over optical fiber at distances of 1 km or greater.   http://www.nec.co.jp/english/today/newsrel/0008/0201.html
NEC, August 2, 2000

• The current 1394 interface standard, which is supported on nearly all new camcorder models, supports data transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps.  A new 1394b specification enhancement will enable speed increases to 3.2 Gbps, support distances of 100 meters on UTP-5, plastic optical fiber and glass optical fiber, and significantly reduce latency times by using arbitration pipelining.  http://www.1394ta.org/

ECI TELECOM PROPOSES TO SPLIT INTO 5 COMPANIES
Stating that its current market valuation does not reflect the value of its individual components, ECI Telecom announced a plan to split itself into 5 companies: Transport (digital cross connects), Optical Networks, Access, Next Generation Telephony, and Innowave (fixed wireless loop).  For Q2 2000, ECI Telecom reported revenue of $317.2 million (up 17% over Q2 1999) and net income $6.7 million or $0.07 per diluted share.  ECI Telecom's Access business, which includes fiber, copper and wireless solutions, had revenues of $111.0 million, and a grow rate of 47% over last year. Its core transport business, which consists of optical networking products and Digital Cross Connects, grew 40% to $109.7 million.  Next Generation Telephony Solutions (NGTS), which consists of IP Telephony products and ATM media gateways, grew from $1.5 million in the second quarter of 1999 to $4 million in the second quarter of this year.  The spin-off plan has been presented to the company's Board of Directors for review.  ECI Telecom is based in Petah Tikva, Israel.  http://www.ecitele.com/rq2_2000.htm
ECI Telecom, August 3, 2000

KINGSTON VISION DEPLOYS ALCATEL'S 670 ROUTING SWITCH PLATFORM
Alcatel announced the first fully commercial deployment of its next generation ATM + MPLS + IP core solution, the Alcatel 670 Routing Switch Platform.  Kingston Interactive Television (KIT), which is a UK subsidiary of Kingston Communications, is installing six 670 RSPs to support the core of its DSL and television broadcast network.  KIT already relies on Alcatel DSL at the network edge, with each home on its network allocated up to 5.5 Mbps of bandwidth.  The Alcatel 670 RSP currently scales from 50 Gbps to 450 Gbps of aggregate switching capacity- with a future potential to five Tbps.  http://www.alcatel.com/vpr/index.htm?body=/latestnews/03082000uk
Alcatel, August 4, 2000

GIGANET LTD. RISES 32% IN IPO
Shares in Giganet Ltd. (Nasdaq: GGNT), a developer of broadband wireless equipment, rose 32% in their first day of public trading on Friday, August 4, 2000.  Giganet's FibeAir broadband wireless platform operates across multiple licensed frequencies (18, 23, 26, 28 and 38 GHz), delivering SONET/SDH, ATM, Fast Ethernet and IP at up to 155 Mbps.  The company has commercially deployed systems in 20 countries.  It recently announced plans to offer spectral-efficient 311 and 622 Mbps broadband wireless products.  Giganet is based in Tel Aviv, Israel and is an affiliate of the RAD Group.  http://www.giganet.co.il
August 4, 2000

BROADWING TAKES EQUITY POSITION IN CORVIS PRIOR TO IPO
Broadwing disclosed its purchase of 8 million Corvis shares for approximately $44 million over the past three months.  Broadwing had previously completed a successful field trial with Corvis and will purchase $200 million in Corvis optical networking equipment.  http://www.broadwing.com
Broadwing, August 4, 2000

• Corvis' IPO date was Friday, July 28, 2000 at $36 a share.  It closed trading on Friday, August 4, 2000 at $108 1/16. 

AGILENT ACQUIRES DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY INC. FOR PROTOCOL TEST SOFTWARE
Agilent Technologies will acquire Digital Technology Inc. (Bedford, MA) and its sister company, Dynamic Digital Technology (Calcutta, India), developers of network-protocol test solutions, for an undisclosed sum.  Digital Technology is currently working on MPLS test software.  Agilent said it intends to integrate the capabilities with its QA Robot and RouterTester platforms.  Digital Technology also offers ATM conformance-testing tools.  http://www.dtix.com/  http://www.agilent.com
Agilent Technologies, August 4, 2000

ATREUS RAISES $4 MILLION FOR ITS DSL APPLICATIONS PLATFORM
Atreus Systems, a start-up developing a DSL applications system for managing specialized services in hotels and apartment buildings, secured $4 million in first round equity financing from Blueprint Ventures and Skypoint Capital.  The Atreus service creation and management platform would enable ISPs, hotel management or building owners to activate and distribute value-added services, such as email, IT applications, voice-over-DSL or video-over-DSL, to individual clients within their buildings.  Atreus Systems is based in Santa Clara, California and Ottawa, Canada.  http://www.atreuscorp.com
Atreus Systems, August 3, 2000

NUMBER OF CERTIFIED CABLE MODEM VENDORS REACHES 33
Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs) has now certified 33 companies and 75 cable modem products for compliance with its DOCSIS standards.  The most recently certified devices include two more plug-and-play universal serial bus (USB) modems from Thomson Consumer Electronics and Arris Interactive. The cable modems do not require an installed Ethernet card. http://www.cablelabs.com/
CableLabs, August 4, 2000

COM21 TO INTEGRATE PHILLIPS DVB INTO ITS CABLE HEADENDS
Com21 acquired an exclusive license for specific DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) INA (Interactive Network Adapter) technologies from Philips Electronics.  The deal enables Com21 to deliver a cable headend solution conforming to the DVB interoperability specification approved in 1999 by the EuroModem Consortium.  The DVB initiative aims to define a common platform for digital transmission of video, data and telephony over both traditional hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) broadband cable systems and also over various forms of wireless technology.  http://www.com21.com
Com21, August 3, 2000