Santa Clara, California-based SynOptics Communications Corp has announced plans to launch a range of switched Ethernet products, claiming to be the first vendor to mix 10Mbps and 100Mbps Ethernet (using the CSMA/CD Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection approach) on the same switched local network. The company is basing its products on Sunnyvale-based Kalpana Inc’s Ethernet switch, but says that it is responsible for the modifications enabling the two speeds to be mixed. Enabling 10Mbps and 100Mbps switched Ethernet networks to co-exist, says SynOptics, means users are given more flexibility to customise their networks according to requirements: a typical example of this is where several 10Mbps local network segments can be used with a single server or router running at 100Mbps, without any degradation in performance. As well as the two Ethernet speeds, SynOptics intends to integrate Asynchronous Transfer Mode switching for high-speed applications. Indeed, this month it is due to start shipping the LattisCell Asynchronous Mode-only switch, which it says offers switching of up to 16 100Mbps or 155Mbps Asynchronous Transfer links. SynOptics has dubbed its core switching technology Fast Frame, a set of application specific integrated circuits which will be incorporated into a module for its System 3000 intelligent hubs combining 10Mbps and 100Mbps Ethernet.
Module
The module is under development, and is due to ship around the middle of next year. SynOptics says that it is already shipping a hub module offering 10Mbps-only Ethernet switching. The Model 3328 is said to have capacity for switching up to six 10Mbps Ethernets, provides full duplex interswitch links, and is manageable via SNMP-based systems. One aspect of the system that SynOptics is particularly keen to push, is its modular nature. Indeed, it envisages a scenario where companies can upgrade only those parts of the network requiring higher speeds, mix’n’matching the different technologies according to user requirements. Among its other plans, SynOptics says next fourth quarter it will launch a range of Asynchronous Transfer Mode network interface boards developed with Network Peripherals Inc.
