INDUSTRY

SAN JOSE, CA -- Intel Corporation today announced the latest member of its Media Switch Family, aimed at making the corporate migration to gigabit Ethernet easier and more affordable. The Intel(R) Media Switch IXE5416 16-Port Gigabit Device enables OEMs to build high-bandwidth, highly scalable, plug-and-play Ethernet switches. With 16 triple-speed (10/100/1000 Mbps) ports, an IXE5416 system can automatically configure each switch port to the speed of each PC's network interface card. This enables corporations to migrate their clients individually to gigabit performance without expensive upgrades of their network switches. The new Media Switch device, which enables switch systems to be built for less than $100 per port, combined with the Intel(R) PRO/1000 T Desktop Adapter announced earlier this year, enables easy and affordable corporate migration to gigabit to the desktop. "The end-to-end Ethernet network is quickly moving towards reality," said Tom Franz, vice president and general manager of Intel's Access and Switching Group. "At its foundation is a requirement for faster, more intelligent components to enable peak network performance for high-bandwidth applications. These new Intel Media Switch products are scalable, deliver faster time to market for our customers, and enable network managers to easily and affordably migrate their networks to gigabit speeds." This chip operates as the brain of intelligent switches, handling advanced routing, quality-of-service and class-of-service functions. This added level of intelligence in the device enables equipment manufacturers to design systems that prioritize packets for voice, video and data over Ethernet/IP networks. In June, the Dell'Oro Group forecasted that gigabit connections in the network are expected to grow at greater than 50 percent annually for the next three years. Applications such as 3D graphics, video streaming and XML-based Internet tools are becoming more commonplace and will help drive the migration to gigabit desktops. Intel also announced today the Intel(R) IXE2424 and Intel(R) IXE2426 10/100+Gigabit Media Switch Devices. These new products offer four-gigabit ports (two more than the previous generation of Media Switch devices) in addition to 24-10/100 gigabit ports. The IXE2424 incorporates support for three advanced packet-handling features to improve network performance, Multiprotocol Label Switching, a method of increasing network performance by simplifying packet handling; Differentiated Services, a way to add class of service to IP networks; and Weighted Random Early Detection, which enables different qualities of service for different traffic during periods of congestion. "Intel's IXE2424 device offers L2/L3/L4 switching, quality-of-service and security functions, all on a single chip, making it an economical solution," said Atsuhisa Takahashi, vice general manager, IP Systems Division, Network Systems Group, Fujitsu Limited. "Cost effectiveness, together with its scalability and easy-to-integrate stackable package, make it our choice for our new switch products that are currently being developed." The IXE2426 chip is a version of the IXE2424 device for easy, cost-effective development of layer2-only switches. Software drivers, protocol stacks and reference platforms are available for all of the new chips to aid developers and enable network equipment manufacturers to bring products based on these new Media Switch devices to market more quickly. The IXE5416 and IXE2426 devices will be available in Q4'2001. The IXE2424 device is sampling now and also will be available in Q4'2001. In quantities of 1,000, the devices cost $379 for the IXE5416 device, $120 for the IEX2424 device and $80 for the IXE2426 device. For more information visit www.intel.com