• PhotonEx was founded in September 1999 by Dr. Kristin Rauschenbach and Dr. Katherine Hall, both of whom previously held executive positions at M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory, as well as Dr. Nanying Yin, who previously served as Director of Nortel Networks' Internet Core Router Group.
• PhotonEx has raised $88 million in two rounds of funding.  Its principal investors include Oak Investment Partners, Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Essex Investment Management, the Photonics Fund, and Intel Capital.

VITESSE DEVELOPS INDIUM PHOSPHIDE PROCESS TECHNOLOGY FOR 40 GBPS DEVICES
Vitesse Semiconductor announced a new process technology for manufacturing analog and digital chips for data transmission at rates in excess of 40 Gbps.  The process is built around Indium Phosphide (InP) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs).  The first generation of the InP HBT process will be used to make physical layer ICs for SONET OC-768 applications and circuitry for 10 Gbps systems that use RZ encoded data.  Vitesse said succeeding generations will provide ICs with up to 100 Gbps levels of performance and integrated optical devices, thereby providing the capability to manufacture true monolithic optical integrated circuits (OEICs).  http://www.vitesse.com/news/053001.shtml
Vitesse Semiconductor, May 30, 2001

AUSTRALIA PUSHES AHEAD WITH NATIONAL ADVANCED NETWORK PROJECTS
A national advanced network backbone and broadband wireless project in Australia received commitments for over AUS $37 million in government funding, plus another AUS $93 million in contributions from consortium members.  The Building on IT Strengths (BITS) Advanced Networks Program will include the following projects:

• Centre for Networking Technologies for Information Economy (CeNTIE) (AUS $14 million) - a CSIRO-led consortium including Nortel Networks, Amcom Telecommunications, the UNSW, UTS and the WA Interactive Virtual Environments Centre (IVEC).  CeNTIE will build metro optical networks in Sydney and Perth using newly-constructed or leased dark fiber.  New and existing research and administrative LANs will be connected with 10 Gbps upgradeable links.  The MANs will be connected by Amcom's DWDM long-haul network.
• GrangeNet (AUS $14 million) – backed by AARNet, the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (APAC), the CRC for Enterprise Distributed Systems Technology, Cisco and PowerTel.  GrangeNet is a high performance backbone based upon four main nodes in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, with 2.5 Gbps Packet over SDH (PoS) links utilizing dark fiber.
• mNet Australia (AUS $9 million) – supported by Adelaide University, Agile Pty Ltd, Dspace Pty Ltd, the Playford Centre, Telstra, the City of Adelaide and the University of South Australia.  mNet intends to establish state of the art wireless LANs and leading-edge pre-commercial 3G mobile networks and to link them with fiber.

Each of these projects will receive grants funded from the partial sale of Telstra to establish next generation networks using leading-edge network technologies.  http://www.dcita.gov.au/bits/
May 28, 2001

EQUINIX OFFERS “SANDBOX” NEUTRAL TESTING ENVIRONMENT
Equinix will offer a neutral testing environment for the research and development of new IP technologies and services.  The company’s goal is to provide an open environment at the center of the Internet where service providers, vendors and research companies can tap into a diverse aggregation of Internet companies and infrastructure.  The Equinix Sandbox is currently being used to test a wide range of applications, including next-generation routers and switches, emerging photonic switches, new Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) monitoring services, mobile-to-Internet gateways, scalable IP multicast exchange technologies, high-density server and data center appliances, and next-generation SONET and QoS cross connects.  Initial participants include Calient Networks, Foundry Networks InvisibleHand Networks, MAYAN Networks and Mazu Networks.  http://www.equinix.com/press/2001/05-30-01.htm
Equinix, May 30, 2001

FLAG TELECOM SELECTS CIENA FOR ASIAN AND EUROPEAN NETWORKS
FLAG Telecom will deploy CIENA’s CoreStream and MultiWave CoreDirector optical systems for its FLAG North Asia Loop project - a submarine network that links Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea.  CIENA will also supply its MultiWave CoreStream platform on the FLAG Europe-Asia cable system, which connects Europe, the Middle East and Asia.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.ciena.com/news/archive/2001/05/05.30.2001.html
CIENA, May 30, 2001

KOREA TELECOM SELECTS ONI SYSTEMS FOR REGIONAL OPTICAL NETWORK
Korea Telecom awarded a multi-million dollar contract to ONI Systems for its ONLINE11000 transport platform.  The equipment will be deployed as part of a regional optical transport platform across Korea.  http://www.oni.com
ONI Systems, May 30, 2001

• ONI’s ONLINE11000 optical transport platform is designed to transmit signals up to 640 km between source and destination without electrical regeneration.  The ONLINE11000 chassis could be deployed in rings ranging from a few hundred kilometers to more than 1,000 km. The new platform shares the same line cards, client interfaces and management system as ONI System's existing metro core and metro access solutions.  It features full optical add/drop capabilities, line-based optical or path-based rerouting of channels in the event of optical fiber failure, and support for 33 protected and 66 unprotected wavelengths.  Client interfaces include OC3, OC12, OC48, OC192, Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel and ESCON.

GLUON NETWORKS INTRODUCES ITS CONVERGED “CENTRAL OFFICE IN A BOX”
Gluon Networks, a start-up based in Petaluma, California, introduced its Converged Local Exchange switch, a “central office in a box” that combines Class 5 capabilities, local softswitching, DSLAM, ATM and SONET functionality.  The platform is based on a cell-based switch using a dual 32 Gbps protocol neutral fabric.  Trunk interfaces include DS3/E3, OC-3c/STM1, OC-12c/STM4, SS7-ISUP, TCAP, MF DS1/E1, IMT, H.248 and BICC. These broadband transmission facilities can be used as transport between CLX systems or as northbound uplinks, or inter-machine trunks to Class 4 offices, as well as to centralized softswitches, other Class 5 "peer" offices or packet networks. Tributary, or access line interfaces, include POTS, DS1/E1, DSL, ADSL, ISDN (primary rate interface (PRI) for PBX trunks) and DS3/E3 for DSLAM traffic aggregation.  http://www.gluonnetworks.com/
Gluon Networks, May 30, 2001

• Gluon Networks is led by George Hawley, previously one of the founders of Diamond Lane (a DSLAM developer acquired by Nokia).  The company’s technical team is led by Jacques Roth and Tri Minh Hoang, both of whom were co-founders of Mariposa Technologies (acquired by Marconi).

HYPERCHIP TO SHOW ITS HIGH-CAPACITY CORE ROUTER
At next week’s SuperComm in Atlanta, Hyperchip will be demonstrating for the first time its carrier-class core router based on massively parallel semiconductors designed around a non-blocking, intelligent switch fabric.  The MPLS-centric router promises to support hundreds of concurrent operations per ASIC, enabling vast scalability.  Hyperchip is a start-up based in Montreal, Canada.  http://www.hyperchip.com
Hyperchip, May 30, 2001

• Last September, Hyperchip raised US$67 million in third round funding.  Investors include Optical Capital Group, Altamira, Amerindo, Artemis, Enron Broadband Services, JT Ventures, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Pilgrim Baxter, Putnam, Van Wagoner, Advent International, Argo Global Capital, Siemens, TechnoCap, and Vertex Technology Fund.
• IBM will manufacture Hyperchip's Matrix ASIC with its .18-micron copper process technology.

AVANTAS INTRODUCES OPTICAL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT UNIT
Avantas Networks introduced a rack-mounted optical performance management unit designed to serve as a network probe at core and edge network elements.  The Avantas Network Guardian G2 provides testing and monitoring interfaces from DS0 to OC-192/STM-64, as well as 10/100Base TX and Gigabit Ethernet.  Service providers could use the device to provide verification of TDM/PDH, SONET/SDH, ATM, and TCP/IP based services.  http://www.avantas.com/company/pressr2000.html#FIR
Avantas, May 30, 2001

QUAKE SECURES $30 MILLION FOR ITS 10/40 GBPS PHYSICAL LAYER CHIPS
Quake Technologies, a fabless semiconductor start up, raised $30 million in a second round of financing for its development of mixed-signal, physical layer integrated circuits (ICs) for 10 and 40 Gbps optical applications.  Bowman Capital led the round with additional investments from Cisco Systems, Mohr, Davidow Ventures (MDV), Emerging Alliance Fund, and Mitsubishi.  Quake has offices in Ottawa, Ontario, and San Jose, California.  http://www.quaketech.com
Quake Technologies, May 30, 2001

• In March, Quake began sampling two physical (PHY) layer chips for optical networking applications.  The first device is a 10 Gbps serializer/deserializer (SerDes) transceiver for delivering Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) compliant, 9.953 to 10.3 Gbps speeds for Ethernet and SONET.  The second chip is an integrated transimpedance-limiting amplifier designed for 10 Gbps SONET/SDH or 10 Gbps Ethernet applications.
• Quake Technologies is led by Daniel Trépanier, formerly a Director of Marketing at ANADIGICS Inc.  Its team also includes Sorin Voinigescu (formerly with Nortel Networks), Petre Popescu (Nortel Networks), Justin Chang (Agilent/Hewlett-Packard's Fiber Optics Communications Division), Carolyn Raab (Nortel Networks) and Michael Keenan (Nortel Networks).  Quake has offices in Ottawa, Canada and San Jose, CA.

TRENDIUM RAISES $25 MILLION FOR SERVICE INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE
Trendium, a start-up based in Sunrise, Florida, with offices in Sophia Antipolis, France, raised $25 million in second round financing to support is development of service intelligence software for network and content service providers.  Trendium software enables policy-based service assurance of broadband services over multiple infrastructure layers and domains.  Mellon Ventures led the equity funding, joined by other new investors Vertex Management, Crossbow Ventures, GKM Venture Partners, as well as individual investors from the communications industry, including Jon Shantz of Cisco Systems, and Jim McManus, former Sr. VP of UUNET and President of McManus Capital.  http://www.trendium.com/about/05-30-2001.htm
Trendium, May 30, 2001

ALTERA, NORTEL NETWORKS SIGN LONG-TERM STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT
Nortel Networks awarded a five-year supply agreement to Altera and named the company one of its major semiconductor suppliers.  The relationship will ensure that Nortel Networks has long-term access to Altera’s programmable logic devices (PLDs) and other system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions.  http://www.altera.com/corporate/press_box/releases/pr-nortel_agreement.html
Altera, May 30, 2001