GOTHAM NETWORKS UNVEILS ITS “SWITCHLESS SWITCH” FOR THE NETWORK EDGE
Gotham Networks, a start-up based in Acton, Mass., unveiled a “Switchless Switch” edge device that differs from conventional edge routers/switches by eliminating the need for a centralized switching fabric.  Instead, the design uses a distributed, fully interconnected, non-blocking mesh architecture where every card in the chassis is connected to every other card.  Gotham’s key design element is a Universal Service Card that provides switching, control, and protocol processing all on a single, multi-function board. The carrier-class platform supports both WAN and LAN interfaces; Layer 2 switching for ATM, Frame Relay, permanent and switched virtual circuits; and Layer 3 routing for RIP, OSPF, BGP and MPLS. The system can handle interfaces from DS0 to OC-48c, and is OC-192 and DWDM-ready. Interface densities range up to 5,000 DS1 channels, 768 DS3 channels, or 256 OC-3/Ethernet ports.  Gotham said its unique design would allow service providers to build market-competitive networks based on capital investments that are directly proportional to subscriber growth.  Commercial release is planned for Q2 2001.  http://www.gothamnetworks.com
Gotham Networks, October 30, 2000

• Gotham Networks is headed by Lou Piazza, who previously served as Senior Vice President of Operations at Wellfleet (Bay Networks) and earlier as Vice President of Packet Switch Development at BBN Communications.  Gotham’s technical team is led by Vijay K. Aggarwal, previously the Principal Architect of Nexabit Network's Terabit Router.

OCULAR NETWORKS BUILDS METRO OPTICAL PLATFORM FOR TDM AND DATA
Ocular Networks, a start-up based in Fairfax, Virginia, outlined its plans for a metro optical architecture for delivering Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), ATM and IP traffic natively over a single, high-speed switching fabric.  The box will use custom ASICs to allocate both switching and transport between native TDM and data automatically and dynamically, based on traffic input.  Ocular’s combination of hardware and software will characterize incoming traffic; choose the correct path, priority, and QoS parameters through switching fabric; and perform bandwidth management functions associated with both TDM cross-connect and data switching functions.  The design uses a common high-speed switch matrix, preserving the native characteristics of the traffic in the process.  The system would provide direct mapping of circuits into TDM/SONET formats within the SONET standard for jitter and delay.  A proprietary Bandwidth Sharing Protocol would provide real-time partitioning of transport links for equitable transfer of both TDM and cell/packet-based traffic.  Specific product plans have not yet been disclosed.  http://www.ocularnetworks.com
Ocular Networks, October 30, 2000

• Ocular Networks was co-founded by Ed Kennedy, previously Vice President of Marketing at Alcatel’s Enterprise and Data Networks division, and Dr. Ron Fang, who previously managed Frame Relay and ATM product development at Bell Northern Research, the research arm of Nortel Networks.  

QUARRY INTRODUCES OPTICAL-SPEED ENCRYPTED TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
Quarry Technologies, a start-up based in Burlington, Mass., introduced an Encrypted Traffic Engineering capability for its network edge switch/router that applies QoS algorithms to secured data at rates exceeding 1 Gbps per interface.  The technology uses the custom ASICs of Quarry’s edge router to implement Triple DES encryption and traffic engineering processing at full line rate on all interfaces up to Gigabit Ethernet.  The company said IP service providers could use the platform in regional POPs or other traffic aggregation points to offer enterprise customers security across the Internet equivalent to their private Frame Relay or leased line networks.  http://www.quarrytech.com/
Quarry Technologies, October 30, 2000

• Quarry’s Application Service Edge switch will combine high-performance ASICs, network processors and proprietary algorithms for priority queuing, virtual routing and real-time statistics at speeds up to OC-48.  Quarry's packet processing system provides wire speed traffic classification, policing, fine-grained queuing, dynamic firewall filtering, address translation and priority-sensitive traffic aggregation, thereby enabling the enforcement of application-specific Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to each business customer.  
  
• Quarry Technologies was co-founded by Jean Hammond, along with a core team from the BBN/GTEI SuperRouter project.  Hammond previously was responsible for 3Com's WAN strategy following its acquisition of AXON Technology, another company that she co-founded.  

VIVACE NETWORKS CLOSES $83 MILLION FOR ITS MPLS SWITCHES
Vivace Networks, a start-up based in San Jose, CA., raised $83 million in third round venture financing for its development of high-performance MPLS solutions.  Vivace is developing a family of MPLS-based switches for optical networks that scale from 10 Gbps up to 2.5 Tbps.  Specific product plans have not yet been disclosed. The company has raised $118 million to date.  Investors include Meritech Capital, Foundation Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures and Redpoint Ventures.  http://www.vivacenetworks.com/
Vivace Networks, October 30, 2000

• Vivace is led by Ken Koenig (CEO) and Mitri Halabi  (VP Engineering), both formerly of OnStream Networks, a developer of ATM WAN access products that was acquired by 3Com.
   
• In July, Vivace Networks named Andrew G. Malis as Chief Technologist.  Malis formerly served with Lucent Technologies / Ascend  / Cascade, where he helped shape MPLS, IP, Frame Relay and ATM technology.  He is the founding Vice-Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Technical Committee of the MPLS Forum, and chairs the IETF's IP over Optical and Frame Relay Network Management working Groups. 

PICOLIGHT RAISES $38.9 MILLION FOR ITS VERTICAL CAVITY SURFACE EMITTING LASERS (VCSEL)
Picolight, a start-up based in Boulder, Colorado, raised $38 million in third round financing to ramp manufacturing of the company's Vertical Cavity Laser-based optical components.  Investors include Pequot Private Equity Fund III, Cisco Systems, Corning, Bank of America Ventures and Charles River Ventures.  http://www.picolight.com
Picolight, October 30, 2000

METROPHOTONICS SECURES CDN$62.5 MILLION FOR IS PASSIVE OPTICAL COMPONENTS
MetroPhotonics, a start-up based in Ottawa, Canada, raised CDN$62.5 million for its development of passive optical components designed for last mile fiber connections.  The company says its photonic integrated circuits would provide WDM capabilities at much lower costs. Investors include Yorkton Securities.  http://www.metrophotonics.com
MetroPhotonics, October 30, 2000

QWEST WIRELESS IMPLEMENTS VOICE-BROWSING INTERNET ACCESS
Qwest Communications will begin offering its mobile telephone subscribers a Voice Browsing capability that provides business locator services and personalized, up-to-date news, sports, traffic, airline, stock quotes and weather information.  The voice portal service uses hosted software, applications and services developed by BeVocal, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California.  Qwest plans to charge $4.95/month for subscribers to its wireless network (US West).  http://www.bevocal.com   http://www.qwest.com
Qwest, October 30, 2000

CABLE & WIRELESS INVESTS US$1.4 BILLION FOR FIBER IN JAPAN
Cable & Wireless will invest US$1.4 billion (Yen 150 billion) over a five-year period to build a national fiber network in Japan.  The new facilities would connect around 80 cities in all 47 prefectures, and will include 65 PoPs and 75 Points of Interconnect.  Plans include metro networks for Tokyo and Osaka, using a mixture of fiber, DSL and LMDS technologies. http://www.cwplc.com/
Cable & Wireless, October 30, 2000

• Earlier this month, Cable&Wireless outlined its ten-year plan for a global migration from circuit-switched voice to VoIP.  Nortel Networks was awarded a US$1.4 billion project covering deployment of its Succession Communication Server 2000, Succession Communication Server 3000 softswitch and Passport 15000 Packet Voice Gateway. 

MARCONI SELECTED FOR NEW CITY NETWORK DESIGN IN UAE
Marconi was selected to design, build and operate a totally new communications network for Dubai Marina, a new city in the United Arab Emirates being planned for 80,000 to 100,000 residents.  The ten-year contract is valued at up to US$550 million. 
http://www.marconi.com/html/news/marconicommunicationsfordubaimarina.htm
Marconi, October 30, 2000

VERIZON REPORTS 350,000 DSL ACCOUNTS, UP 59% OVER Q2
As of September 30, Verizon had 350,000 DSL users, up by 130,000 over the previous quarter.  Verizon is currently activating approximately 3,500 DSL lines a day, of which 90% are self-installed.  The company has 1,770 central offices equipped for DSL and nearly 60 percent of Verizon's access lines qualified for the service.  Verizon also noted 806,000 net additions for its mobile telephone service, giving it 26.3 million mobile customers.  In addition, the company reported more than 500,000 customers for its wireless data services at the end of the quarter, including more than 400,000 subscribers to Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web Internet access.   http://newscenter.verizon.com/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=44828
Verizon, October 30, 2000