Remember Castle Networks, the startup with a new-age telephony switch that got bought by Unisphere Solutions Inc.?

Well, it looks as though Son of Castle Networks is about to be unveiled, in the form of WaveSmith Networks Inc., an Acton, Mass., startup that plans to announce an $11.5-million first round of venture funding tomorrow.

Wavesmith isn't actually saying what it is it's smithing. But its president and CEO, Robert Dalias, comes from Castle, as does its director of engineering and operations, Andrea Carr-Evans.

Chad Dunn, a co-founder and director of product management at WaveSmith, says the startup is developing a switch for metro networks. The "secret sauce" is the switch's ability to handle traditional telephone traffic, he adds. In other words, there are some strong similarities with Castle.

Castle ended up delivering the goods for Unisphere, which probably helped WaveSmith attract its heavyweight backers. They include Bessemer Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, and Commonwealth Capital Ventures.

-- Peter Heywood, international editor, Light Reading