IBM Makes Juniper T640 ASIC

EAST FISHKILL, N.Y. -- IBM's skill in manufacturing complex custom chips again became apparent today with the introduction of Juniper Networks' T-series Internet routing family. Juniper Networks announced its first T-series product, the T640 Internet Routing Node, incorporating seven different programmable application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) designed by Juniper Networks engineering team and manufactured by IBM. These T-series Internet Processor ASICs each average 10 million 'gates,' or basic logic circuits, compared to the 2 million gates in Juniper Networks' previous generation of silicon. The company says this enables the T640 routing node to offer bandwidth densities four times greater than the current state of the art and IP services capacities 16 times those of their nearest competitor. It believes the T640 Internet routing node is also the fastest router on the market with an impressive 1200 million route-look-ups per second in each system. IBM's Blue Logic (TM) SA-27 - the company's first copper ASIC technology - has enabled Juniper Networks to reach a new level of density and speed. The T-series represents the first instance of copper silicon technology in a Juniper Networks routing platform. It is a 0.18-micron technology that provides faster chips that consume less power than chips manufactured with traditional aluminum processing. The result is exceptional density in Juniper Networks newly introduced T640 Internet routing node. "The T-series silicon represents the most advanced technology ever to be implemented in a router," said Pradeep Sindhu, founder and chief technology officer at Juniper Networks. "Thanks to IBM's leading copper and packaging technologies, our third generation of high-density silicon is a breakthrough advancement in interface speed and bandwidth, a necessity for mid- to large-size points of presence." IBM Corp. Juniper Networks Inc.