Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. and Vixel Corp. announced a partnership to jointly develop and market Fibre Channel Loop Switch semiconductors for use in standalone switches or in embedded applications such as disk arrays and RAID subsystems.
Under the agreement, Vixel contributes their Fibre Channel switching technology and management firmware, while Vitesse contributes their multi-channel Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) technology and Enclosure Management functions. Vitesse will fabricate and market single-chip Loop Switch ICs and associated firmware to the storage industry for use in a wide range of Storage Area Network (SAN) applications.
“The combination of Vixel and Vitesse represents the perfect blend of superior technologies and marketing strength,” stated Jim McCluney, president and CEO of Vixel. “Our work with Vitesse will make the high performance of 2Gb/s Fibre Channel switching technology available for embedded applications within complex storage systems. By working with the leading provider of Fibre Channel semiconductors to integrate these complex functions onto a single IC, we are creating a new and unique offering that addresses the rapidly expanding market for embedded switches.”
“Our disk array customers demand more performance in loop environments and advanced diagnostics that identify misbehaving components efficiently. By using Vixel’s Loop Switch technology we will co-develop highly integrated switching chips that bring all of the features our customers demand in the industry’s highest integration solution,” said Bob Rumer, vice president of Storage Communications Products at Vitesse.