Finisar, Marvell in Joint Venture

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR), a technology leader in Gigabit fiber-optic solutions for high-speed data networks, and Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL), a technology leader in the development of extreme broadband communications solutions, today announced that the two companies have teamed up to offer the industry’s first Gigabit solutions to provide end-users with complete flexibility in copper and fiber media selection. These two solutions consist of Marvell’s Alaska Ultra+ PHY transceiver, which offers an integrated circuit (IC) solution, and Finisar’s family of Gigabit Interface Converters (GBICs), which offers hot-pluggable modular support for both fiber and copper interfaces.Today, Marvell introduces the Alaska Ultra+ device, the industry’s first Gigabit Ethernet transceiver IC to support the automatic detection and configuration to either copper or fiber media. The Alaska Ultra+ transceiver offers simultaneous support of both copper and fiber interfaces, whereby the copper port is connected to a transformer and RJ45 connector, and the fiber port is connected to a Gigabit fiber-optic module or GBIC device. The device’s Media Detect feature automatically senses whether the end-user has inserted a CAT 5 copper or fiber-optic cable, performs Auto-Negotiation and provides seamless “plug and play” configuration. Working in collaboration with Marvell, Finisar already offers the industry an alternative approach to Gigabit media independence utilizing the industry-standard hot-pluggable GBIC form factor. Based on Marvell’s Alaska Gigabit Ethernet PHY, the Finisar FCM-8519-3 offers a leading-edge GBIC module that supports 1000BASE-T on CAT 5 UTP copper media. In conjunction with Finisar’s complete line of fiber-optic GBIC products, this new product provides significant benefit to the customer base by offering fiber or copper Gigabit connections interchangeably. Finisar Corp. Marvell Technology Group Ltd.