SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 — Dune Networks and Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation will collaborate to ensure Dune's next-generation devices interoperate with Vitesse's triple-speed Ethernet media access controllers (MACs), using next-generation XAUI interfaces.

Driving interoperability through this collaboration will result in flexible Ethernet aggregation solutions for enterprise and data center switches, says Ofer Iny, Dune CTO. The products will support multiple host interface types for copper and optical links.

Lower port costs for Gbit Ethernet are achieved with higher port density, lower pin count, longer trace lengths on boards, and improved scalability over existing SPI-4 solutions, according to the companies. Line cards can be simplified with next-generation Ethernet MACs, such as Vitesse's Barrington-II, says Tony Conoscenti, VP of product marketing, Vitesse. He suggests that simplifying line cards with these interface technologies can reduce costs by up to 4× from previous generations.