Ensuring Seamless 802.11ac Performance For Wave 2 WLAN Upgrades

CAMARILLO, Calif. & MILPITAS, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — October 20, 2014 — Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: VTSS), a leading provider of advanced IC solutions for Carrier, Enterprise and Internet of Things (IoT) networks worldwide, and Aquantia, the market leader of high-speed Ethernet connectivity solutions for data centers, mobile and Enterprise infrastructure, announced the industry’s first and only turnkey 2.5G Ethernet switch solution, reference design and software integration to accelerate Wave 2 802.11ac network deployments over existing Cat5e and Cat6 cabling infrastructure.

Wave 2 802.11ac drives access point backhaul bandwidth above 1G, compelling Enterprises to find ways to enable multi-Gigabit bandwidth over existing network cabling. While using 10G uplinks is a possibility, it requires Enterprises to install a new cabling infrastructure. With the new turnkey 2.5G Vitesse-Aquantia solution, Enterprises can cost-effectively and quickly provision 802.11ac Gigabit capabilities within their existing networks. The joint solution is based on Vitesse’s latest generation SparX-IV™ Enterprise Ethernet switch family, SMBStaX™ protocol stack and Aquantia’s recently announced AQRate^® 2.5G and 5G Ethernet PHY devices.

According to industry analysts, 802.11ac shows a much faster industry uptake versus the prior generation of WLAN access technologies. ABI Research predicts that by the end of 2014, worldwide access points will exceed 176 million, with 802.11ac comprising 18%. 802.11ac upgrades, especially Wave 2, will require additional Ethernet switch bandwidth beyond what Gigabit Ethernet technology can support.

“Vitesse’s SparX-IV Enterprise Ethernet switches complement our recently unveiled AQrate products, and our AQR405 high-density quad-port in particular,” said Kamal Dalmia, vice president of sales and marketing at Aquantia. “This turnkey solution is a key piece of the 802.11ac ecosystem. We anticipate a fast adoption of the 2.5G rate in Enterprise and mobile infrastructure by OEMs and ODMs.”

“The industry needs a turnkey 2.5G solution like this to catalyze massive and fairly immediate Enterprise bandwidth network upgrades over legacy cabling,” said Larry O’Connell, product marketing director at Vitesse. “The joint Vitesse-Aquantia solution addresses a significant market gap between today’s Gigabit and 10G options, delivering major capex and opex advantages to Enterprises coping with burgeoning wireless traffic network demands.”

About Aquantia

Aquantia is the leader in high-speed connectivity solutions for data centers, enterprise and mobile applications. As the number one supplier of 10GBASE-T PHYs in data centers, Aquantia has been consistently the first in the industry to deliver the technology in all process nodes and all port configurations, including the world’s first and only 10GBASE-T MAC/PHY device for servers. Aquantia’s ability to turn technological leadership into business success is evidenced by the fact that it has shipped more 10GBASE-T ports than all its competitors combined in the data centers. Aquantia is further expanding its leadership into the enterprise and mobile market segments with its flagship AQrate product line. Located in Silicon Valley, Aquantia is a venture-backed company, with strong tier-1 VCs and strategic investor support. For more information, visit www.aquantia.com.

About Vitesse

Vitesse (Nasdaq: VTSS) designs a diverse portfolio of high-performance semiconductor solutions for Carrier, Enterprise and IoT networks worldwide. Vitesse products enable the fastest-growing network infrastructure markets including Mobile Access/IP Edge, Cloud Computing, SMB/SME Enterprise and IoT Networking. Visit www.vitesse.com or follow us on Twitter @VitesseSemi.

Vitesse is a registered trademark of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.

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Aquatia Contact:
Calysto Communications
Tom Murphy, +1.831.402.4142
Email Contact
www.calysto.com
or
Vitesse Contact:
Vitesse Semiconductor
Michelle Lozada, +1.805.388.3700
Email Contact
www.vitesse.com
or
Vitesse Contact (China):
Beijing New Synergy Consulting
Sharon Hu, +86 10 88144519/20 x 808
Email Contact
www.1AND7.com