Intel expands optical product line with acquisition

Intel Corp. has acquired West Bay Semiconductor Inc., a Canada-based company that designs networking chips that enable voice and data transport over SONET/SDH-based optical networks. The acquisition of West Bay broadens Intel's portfolio of 2.5Gbps and lower networking ICs.

In future products, Intel intends to combine this architecture and design with its 90nm silicon manufacturing process. These combinations are expected to substantially reduce the cost, power consumption and complexity of optical networking equipment that uses these chips.

West Bay's product line includes transport framers and data mappers that enable next-generation SONET/SDH and Ethernet over SONET/SDH (EoS) applications running at speeds of up to 2.5Gbps. In addition, West Bay is developing next-generation deeply channelized bandwidth management technologies that enable simultaneous, real-time processing of thousands of voice and data streams.