Vitesse and Finisar Demonstrate Uncompensated 10 Gbps 300km Optical Link for Metro Regional Networks


SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - February 26, 2008) - Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR), a technology leader in fiber optic solutions for high-speed networks, and Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (PINKSHEETS: VTSS), a leading provider of advanced IC solutions for Carrier and Enterprise Networks, today announced a technology demonstration of a 300km optical link at 10 Gbps using standard non-return to zero (NRZ) modulation that does not require dispersion compensating fiber (DCF). The demonstration utilizes Finisar's tunable DM200 Chirp-Managed Laser (CML™) transmitter and Vitesse's new VSC8240 Clock and Data Recovery (CDR) IC with integrated Electronic Dispersion Compensation (EDC). The demonstration will be held this week at OFC/NFOEC in Vitesse's booth #2749.

The 300km transmission is enabled by Finisar's CML™ laser and Vitesse's CDR/EDC. This combination provides a low power solution ( < 2.5W) that eliminates the need for expensive dispersion compensation modules in 10 Gbps metro DWDM networks.

"The result of this collaboration enables our telecom OEM customers to design transmission equipment that will achieve a 300km reach using Finisar's DM200 butterfly package and Vitesse's EDC chip," said Frank Fan, marketing director at Finisar. "We believe our customers will reap the most benefit by combining the technical strengths of both companies."

Based on Finisar's proprietary CML™ technology, the DM200 transmitter is available in a TOSA format or butterfly package and is capable of 4 x 100 GHz or 8 x 50 GHz narrow tunability across C-Band and L-Band wavelengths. The CML™ uses a directly modulated standard DFB laser and a passive optical spectrum reshaping (OSR) filter to achieve extended reach.

The VSC8240 is a low-power, CMOS-based CDR with integrated EDC functionality derived from Vitesse's complete line of EDC and physical layer products covering 10 GbE and SONET/SDH applications for Carrier Ethernet and optical transport networks. The VSC8240 is ideal for single receive path applications, such as single mode fiber (SMF) reach extension applications, in 300 pin modules. The production-ready VSC8240 compensates for both SMF chromatic dispersion and polarization-mode dispersion in a poor OSNR environment. Utilizing a decision-feedback equalizer and feed-forward equalizer (DFE/FFE) EDC architecture, the VSC8240 implements an integrated, self-adaptive algorithm that eliminates costly system adjustments.

"Through our leadership in EDC technology, Vitesse is well-positioned to help our customers quickly bring to market solutions that meet the requirements of next-generation metro, regional and long-haul networks," said Tony Conoscenti, vice president, product marketing for Vitesse. "Our collaboration with Finisar not only illustrates Vitesse's technical prowess, but also our commitment to working with leading optical module providers to speed and simplify creation of next-generation fiber applications."

About Finisar

Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR) is a global technology leader for fiber optic components and subsystems and network test and monitoring systems. These products enable high-speed voice, video and data communications for networking, storage and wireless applications over Local Area Networks (LANs), Storage Area Networks (SANs), and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) using Ethernet, Fibre Channel, IP, SAS, SATA and SONET/SDH protocols. The Company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, USA. More information can be found at www.finisar.com.

About Vitesse

Vitesse designs, develops and markets a diverse portfolio of high-performance, cost-competitive semiconductor solutions for Enterprise and Carrier Ethernet networks worldwide. Engineering excellence and dedicated customer service distinguish Vitesse as an industry leader in Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Ethernet-over-SONET, Fibre Channel, Optical Transport, and other applications. Vitesse innovation empowers customers to deliver superior products for Enterprise, Access, Metro, and Core applications. Additional company and product information is available at www.vitesse.com.

Vitesse is a registered trademark in the United States and/or other jurisdictions of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.

Safe Harbor

Statements made in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking" statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements containing words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "hope," "intend," and similar expressions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are identified in the public filings made by Vitesse with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include the fact that we have disclosed that you should not rely upon our published financial statements and the fact that we have not filed all of our reports required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More information on factors that could affect our business and financial results are included in our public filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on the web site of the Securities and Exchange Commission, www.sec.gov.

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Contact Information: MEDIA CONTACTS: Victoria McDonald Finisar Corporation (408) 542-4261 victoria.mcdonald@finisar.com Ronda Grech Vitesse (805) 388-3700 pressrelations@vitesse.com