[0] IBM and Kymata Team to Develop Optical Chips for High Speed Networks.Business/High-Tech Editors EAST FISHKILL, N.Y. & LIVINGSTON, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2000 Moving closer to the realization of "all-optical" communications networks, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and Kymata Ltd. today announced a multi-year agreement to produce next-generation optical networking Communications between computers, telephones and other electronic devices using light. An optical network is far more reliable and has far greater potential transmission capacity than networking in the electrical domain. See optical fiber. chips for high-speed e-business applications. Under the agreement, IBM and Kymata plan to jointly develop innovative optical chips used to help networking gear drive data and information at higher speeds across optical networks. Products will be designed around IBM's unique siliconoxynitride (SiON) process technology. SiON applies high-volume semiconductor manufacturing techniques to optical chip-making for the first time, to yield cost/performance advantages that can extend the use of optics in voice and data networks. IBM is licensing its pump laser A laser used as the pump for an optical amplifier or other laser. See EDFA and laser. technology and its innovative SiON technology to Kymata. SiON will enable Kymata to manufacture new chip designs for themselves and IBM. Sample products developed by IBM and Kymata are expected to be available to customers starting in the first-half of 2001. As part of this strategic relationship, IBM has acquired a minority equity stake in Kymata Ltd. "Our customers are racing to develop the switch and router systems to support an all optical network and they're demanding a new generation of specialized high-performance solutions to do it," said Christine King Christine Elizabeth King is a British historian and university administrator. She is currently Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Staffordshire University.[1] , vice president of semiconductor manufacturing for IBM. "Through this collaboration with Kymata, we intend to create an unprecedented suite of versatile, high-bandwidth optical communications Optical communications The transmission of speech, data, video, and other information by means of the visible and the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. chips that will dramatically speed our customers' time-to-market and speed up existing networks." IBM and Kymata plan to develop a number of complex, yet cost-effective products to allow network equipment to work with optical signals rather than electrical. The highly-integrated, compact and tunable optical products IBM and Kymata expect to develop include: modules to provide enhanced functionality for filtering wavelengths of light beams sent through a fiber simultaneously; filters used to balance the intensity of light at different wavelengths; and versatile optical switches. "This agreement with IBM provides Kymata access to a complimentary, high-performance process technology and essential product development expertise," said Brendan Hyland, chief executive of Kymata. "We're confident that this collaborative relationship will accelerate both IBM and Kymata's plans, enhancing our product portfolio with leading edge integrated opto-electronic solutions for our customers in the telecom and datacom markets." The advanced SiON process technology Kymata is licensing from IBM was developed at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, which is part of the company's industry-leading Communications Research and Development Center (CRDC CRDC Cotton Research and Development Corporation (Australia) CRDC Colorado Rural Development Council CRDC Capital Regional Development Council CRDC Crowley's Ridge Development Council, Inc. ). SiON uses a unique, cost-effective siliconoxynitride core waveguide waveguide, device that controls the propagation of an electromagnetic wave so that the wave is forced to follow a path defined by the physical structure of the guide. layer to produce optical switching devices that are not only smaller and more flexible than similar devices produced by conventional manufacturing processes, but also allow for enhanced functionality not previously possible in optical communications networks. With the licensing of IBM's SiON technology, Kymata intends to use the technology to deliver complex, high-performance parts at a reasonable cost. About IBM IBM Microelectronics is a key contributor to IBM's role as the world's premier information technology supplier. IBM Microelectronics develops, manufactures and markets state-of-the-art semiconductor technologies, products, packaging and services. Its superior integrated solutions can be found in many of the world's best-known electronic brands. More information about IBM Microelectronics can be found at www.chips.ibm.com. About Kymata Limited Kymata was founded in 1998. Its global headquarters are located in Livingston, Scotland, Europe's leading center for opto-electronic research and semiconductor manufacture. It has customer support and design centers in Ottawa, (Canada); Enschede, (The Netherlands) and Pleasanton, (California); as well as sales offices in Boston and New Jersey. Kymata's core business is the design and manufacture of advanced, planar, integrated optical components and subsystems for the telecom and datacom industry. The company has raised $162 million in funding over the last two years. Its shareholders include 3i Group; ACT Venture Capital; Bowman Capital; BT; Chase H&Q; Comdisco Ventures; ComVentures; FNI FNI Fridtjof Nansen Institute (Norway) FNI Fédération Nationale des Infirmières FNI Fellow of the Nautical Institute FNI Filii Nigrantium Infernalium (band) FNI Fiber Network Identification Venture Capital; Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers; RBS RBS Royal Bank of Scotland RBS Role Based Security RBS Rollback Segment RBS Rare Book School (University of Virginia) RBS Rural Business Cooperative Service RBS Ribosome Binding Site (genetics) Mezzanine Limited; Telesoft Partners; the University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Ghlaschu, Latin: Universitas Glasguensis) was founded in 1451, in Glasgow, Scotland. ; the University of Southampton In the most recent RAE assessment (2001), it has the only engineering faculty in the country to receive the highest rating (5*) across all disciplines.[3] According to The Times Higher Education Supplement ; and William Jones William Jones is the name of: Academics and authors
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