Salira Optical Network Systems, Inc. launched to address the need for carriers to provide affordable, high-speed access to the Internet. Salira will develop systems that combine the simplicity and popularity of Ethernet with the power of optics to provide the first carrier-class, IP/Ethernet optical solution for high-speed Internet access.
Salira's systems represent order-of-magnitude improvements in affordability, performance, scalability and flexibility. Salira's fiber-fast access products are expected to dramatically reduce equipment costs to less than $500 per user, while the point-to-multipoint architecture will ensure equipment scalability for carrier networks. In addition, Salira's systems will provide maximum flexibility by enabling carriers to easily provision new, personalized value-added voice, video and data services. The products are expected to be in customer trials with carriers by the second-half of this year.
Heading up Salira are executives and technologists with experience from networking, access equipment and service provider companies that have shaped the development of the Internet. The team is led by Chairman of the Board David House, renowned for his leadership at Intel, Bay Networks, Nortel Networks and most recently Allegro Networks; CEO Herb Martin, an early IP pioneer and a seasoned executive of both start-up and public companies such as Ericsson, ESS Technology, Onyx and The Wollongong Group; and CTO and Co-Founder Wei Gao, a veteran of Nortel's Bell Northern Research unit and developer of the first OC-192/SONET product.
The technical management team is led by technology "luminaries" Dr. Jian Song, who serves as Salira's vice president of hardware, and Rick Li, vice president of software engineering. Also serving on Salira's board are Gwong-Yih Lee, originally founder of Transmedia Corporation and currently a senior director at Cisco, and K.T. Wan, vice president of Vertex Management.
Finally, the team is rounded out by a Technical Advisory Board that includes: Tony Scott, CTO, General Motors; Dana D'Easy, CIO, Siemens Worldwide; Dr. Xiaolin Lu, VP Strategic Engineering & IP Network, AT&T Broadband; and Heidi Heiden, CEO of Zephion Corporation.
The Salira System: Designed From-the-Ground-Up to Combine IP/Ethernet Plus Optics
Salira is designing a system from the ground up to accommodate IP/Ethernet, the format in which virtually all data traffic originates. The Salira technical team has already developed a number of IP/Ethernet patent-pending technologies that will comprise its new system.
Salira's proprietary hardware is integrated with value-added, software-based services to meet key carrier-class requirements, such as guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS), first-class security for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), enforceable Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and Multi-Protocol Transport. The system's distributed network processor architecture and software will allow service providers to deliver value-added services on a per-port basis, enabling personalization of bandwidth and services to individual customers. In addition, Salira's suite of management software will enable remote provisioning and self-provisioning of voice, video and data services.
Leveraging The Popularity of Ethernet to Address the Exploding Internet Access Demands
The Salira team recognized the bandwidth, service provisioning and cost advantages of Ethernet, and that most data traffic is originated in IP/Ethernet format, and designed an integrated system that leverages the inherent advantages of IP/Ethernet and optics.
Salira believes that the combination of excess capacity in the long-haul and metro segments and the lack of investment in the access segment represents a significant opportunity. By reducing cost and complexity, the Salira IP/Ethernet-based systems will provide a compelling solution for carriers to build-out their broadband access services, meeting the demands for bandwidth by both businesses and consumers.
While Salira's hybrid technology makes its system equally suitable for business and residential customers, initial deployments of the solution are targeted at the business market, where there is an abundance of fiber available and the need for fiber-fast access is most critical.
About Salira Optical Network Systems:
Founded in July 2000, Salira received its initial funding in September 2000 in a Series A round led by Vertex Management Partners. For more information, visit www.salira.com.