Ikanos enters GPON market

JULY 19, 2007 -- Ikanos Communications Inc. (search for Ikanos Communications), developer of Fiber Fast broadband products, today announced that it is entering the rapidly growing Gigabit Passive Optical Network (search for GPON)-based fiber-to-the-home (search for FTTH) market.

Ikanos has licensed high-performance GPON physical (PHY) layer technology with Ethernet Layer 2 functionality from Terawave Communications Inc. (search for Terawave Communications), provider of GPON equipment. Ikanos says it will combine Terawave's ITU-compliant GPON PHY technology and the gigabit performance Fusiv Vx170 gateway processor to develop a high-performance GPON residential gateway reference platform.

GPON FTTH and VDSL2 are complementary technologies where fiber is used in the back-haul with the option of copper or fiber for the last mile. By offering GPON products along with its central office (CO) and customer premise equipment (CPE) VDSL2 equipment, Ikanos plans to position itself to be the preferred provider of access technology in all types of fiber and fiber extension deployments (FTTH, FTTN, FTTR, FTTC and FTTB), enabling carriers to seamlessly deliver triple-play and IPTV services.

"Service providers around the world continue to push fiber deeper into their access networks, and GPON is fast becoming the fiber technology of choice in such infrastructure build-outs," explains Jeff Heynen, directing analyst, Broadband and IPTV at Infonetics Research. "The combination of the Ikanos' best-in-class gateway processors and Terawave's proven GPON physical layer technology is expected to enable high-performance optical network units [ONUs] and optical network terminals [ONTs] for the FTTH market and allows Ikanos to build on its leadership position in triple-play silicon and software."

Ikanos' Fusiv Vx170 processor combined with the GPON PHY layer technology provides a strong foundation for Ikanos' GPON gateway reference platform, say company representatives. The Fusiv Vx170 offers 2.7 GHz of processing power, providing wire speed performance across all local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) interfaces while utilizing less than 2.5 watts of power. With multiple Accelerator Processors and dedicated DSP engines for voice-over-IP (VoIP), the Fusiv Vx170 easily meets the processing needs for current and future applications, says Ikanos. Meanwhile, Terawave says its GPON PHY technology with Layer 2 Ethernet functionality meets interoperability requirements and is compliant with Full Service Access Network (FSAN) and ITU G.984 PHY layer technology standards.

"Ikanos has long been a leader in deployment of solutions that support delivery of triple-play applications over wireline access networks," contends Michael A. Ricci, president and CEO of Ikanos. "Our Fusiv architecture is ideal for high-performance GPON networks. It enables us to offer a common software architecture across PON, VDSL2, and ADSLx, while bringing significant quality of service advantages in delivery of voice, video, and data services," he notes.

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