MONROVIA, Calif. -- Integrated Micromachines Inc. (IMMI), a manufacturer of 3D-MEMS-based photonic cross connect (PXC) subsystems, today announced the availability of the IMX-80, an 80-channel all-optical switch for long-haul and metro-area data, video and voice optical communication applications. The IMX-80 is the first of IMMI's innovative IMX family of subsystem products designed for easy integration by system manufacturers with their OEO electronic cross connect (EXC) to form a new class of "hybrid" network element. Other new products currently in development include the IMX-40 and IMX-256. The most important feature of the IMX product line is their extremely low insertion loss. With a loss of only 1.7 dB (for port count up to 256), OEMs can now build system-level products with protected and redundant switch core and still operate within the loss budget of inexpensive short-range intra-office optics. "Our value proposition is very simple," said Dr. Denny K. Miu, founder and CEO of IMMI. "If the traffic is already at wavelength level, then there is no need for additional electronic grooming. The network operators can use the PXC portion of the hybrid optical switch to provide express routing to the backbone network without further OEO conversion at the EXC and save the per-port cost of an expensive OC-192 transceiver." Integrated Micromachines Inc. (IMMI) For more information on OFC 2002, please visit: www.nottheofc.com