December 11, 1996 6:00 PM ET
Whitetree sets sights on gigabit switching speeds with new ASICs
By Paula Musich

Integrated Ethernet and ATM switching company Whitetree Inc. is readying new ASICs capable of switching as much as 1 gigabit per second. The Mountain View, Calif., company recently signed an agreement with Texas Instruments Inc. to produce the new generation of Ethernet and asynchronous transfer mode, network switching ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chips. The ASICs will provide the foundation for a new series of switching products due in the middle of next year. The new "gigabit switch on a chip" will further boost Whitetree's pioneering work on providing transparent Ethernet or ATM switching on every port, according to Kingston Duffie, chief technical officer at Whitetree. "We're the most integrated Ethernet and ATM product out there. Our products next year will take that up a notch or two - to 155 [M-bps] and gigabit speeds," said Duffie. The ASIC is a single chip capable of switching ATM cells at gigabit rates. Whitetree also is working on a companion chip that will bring the same level of transparency between its current ATM/Ethernet switches to a new line of switches supporting ATM and Fast Ethernet, Duffie said. Copyright(c) 1996 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. PC Week and the PC Week logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. PC Week Online and the PC Week Online logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Send mail to PC Week