Marvell acquires 100G chip startup Xelerated

Marvell Semiconductor Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) says it has completed the acquisition of Sweden-based Xelerated AB, a provider of network processors and programmable Ethernet switching silicon for the design of Carrier Ethernet, unified fiber access, mobile backhaul, and transport platforms. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Marvell believes that Xelerated’s AX and HX family of network processor and programmable switches complements its own product portfolio of packet processors, ARM-based SoCs, wireless, and low-power physical layer devices used in infrastructure, data center, and enterprise networking equipment.

"Xelerated’s synergy with Marvell sets the stage for significant progress in the way service providers build out the mobile Internet,” said Paul Valentine, vice president of marketing at Marvell’s enterprise business unit. “The acquisition reflects Marvell’s increasing strategic investments in providing a new generation of advanced network infrastructure solutions designed to enable cloud-based services."

"Programmable wire-speed processing and advanced traffic management are two of Xelerated’s strongest IP assets and are essential for service provider deployment of their enterprise and subscriber services, " said Eva Lindqvist, CEO of Xelerated. "Joining the Marvell family is a fantastic opportunity for us to exploit the full potential of our technology and provide more comprehensive end-to-end solutions to our customers."

Marvell has a long-term relationship with Xelerated’s key competitor, EZchip, which it plans to retain (see "EZchip partners with Marvell for NPU-based line card architectures"). Marvell says it "will continue to work with EZChip on NP-4 and NP-5 processors and is committed to the long-term relationship with EZchip." In fact, EZchip announced January 4 that Marvell would be its ASIC partner for its 200-Gbps NP-5 network processor.

For more information on network processing ICs and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyers Guide.