Force10 Networks Awarded Patents for Its Backplane & Routing Technology

Force10 Networks, the pioneer in building and securing high performance networks, today announced that it has been awarded two patents protecting the leading 100 Gigabit Ethernet-enabled backplane and robust routing technology that power the TeraScale E-Series family of switch/routers. Force10 now holds 18 U.S. and international patents. “The innovation behind these patents points to the engineering excellence at the foundation of the TeraScale E-Series that allows us to continue to push the boundaries of networking,” said Joel Goergen, chief scientist and vice president of technology at Force10 Networks. “As Force10’s intellectual property portfolio continues to expand, so does Force10’s unique ability to transform the way businesses interact with their network.” The Force10 TeraScale E-Series leverages several advances in both switching and routing technology to improve system-level processing and throughput. In its routing implementation, the TeraScale E-Series utilizes a patent-protected scheduling logic that more efficiently processes traffic, enabling very high system throughput. As more service providers look to Ethernet technology as a cost-effective alternative to SONET-based networks, this type of routing innovation further enhances the ability of the TeraScale E-Series to seamlessly scale to meet increasing bandwidth demands. To reduce the cost of their networks, several service providers are leveraging the robust routing technology of the Force10 TeraScale E-Series to peer to hundreds of networks. Hanaro Telecom, Netherlands-based True, NTT-ME and KDDI among others rely on the strong BGP performance of the TeraScale E-Series to connect their customers with networks around the world. Working in conjunction with the routing capabilities of the Force10 TeraScale E-Series is the five Terabits per second backplane, which provides the necessary capacity to support 100 Gigabit Ethernet. The patent-protected backplane of the TeraScale E-Series features radical innovations in design and fabrication to make it ideal for high performance routing functionalities. The high-layer count backplane combines significant power distribution capabilities with a large number of signaling paths to ensure support for 100 Gigabit Ethernet. Additionally, the unique techniques of construction produce a reliable and economical backplane that is a passive system component and does not act as a point of failure. Force10 holds 11 patents for its backplane technology, which has been the foundation for the expansion from 28 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet to 224 and 336 Gigabit Ethernet ports to 1,260 in four years.