Chip maker Velio Communications Inc. is developing a switch fabric for the storage market, probably to be announced later this year, Light Reading has learned.

It wouldn't be the company's first storage product. Last fall, Velio released serializer-deserializer (SerDes) chips targeting Fibre Channel (see Velio Offers Storage SerDes). And officials say their Gigacore2 technology, capable of running 6.25-Gbit/s signals is attracting interest for some 4-Gbit/s Fibre Channel applications (see Velio Accelerates to 6.25-Gig).

A switch fabric is a natural extension, considering the company already makes Sonet fabrics. "It is certainly true that we will be attacking the storage market with a switch fabric product as well," says Ryan Carlson, product marketing manager.

Velio is "in detailed talks" with customers to finalize the specifications, putting any kind of product announcement six to nine months away, Carlson says.

Alas, no engineering hires are pegged to the new product. Velio will draw from its existing team, particularly the dozen or so designers working in New Jersey.

Carlson says the motivation behind the storage fabric is straightforward: With telecom down, you gotta do something [ed. note: and, Lord knows, in New Jersey you gotta do something!].

"In order to get growth in the short term, we should start expanding," Carlson says. "We certainly see the growth potential [in storage] sooner than telecom, but we're not getting out of telecom."

— Craig Matsumoto, Senior Editor, Light Reading