next-generation switches and routers. Founded in August 2000 and headquartered in Fremont, Calif., the company is focused on becoming the leader in providing powerful, flexible semiconductors for tomorrow's network infrastructure.

Crosslayer serves system vendors that make switches for the Ethernet market. A major part of what distinguishes the company from others of its kind is its revolutionary combined packet-processor and switch fabric architecture. The unique Crosslayer architecture accommodates emerging technologies, such as 10-gigabit Ethernet and MPLS (multi-protocol label switching), and allows the system vendors to create products that deliver rich features and high scalability at an attractive price/performance ratio. The switches and routers that result from Crosslayer's architecture directly address the next-generation networking needs of metro service providers and enterprises, letting the system vendors parlay Crosslayer's expertise into their own commercial success.

Ethernet is already the dominant LAN technology in the enterprise market, and with the rapid deployment of gigabit Ethernet and introduction of 10-gigabit Ethernet, this technology is rapidly expanding its application space into the MAN. By focusing on those markets, Crosslayer differs substantially from run-of-the-mill startups that have yet to see their chosen business targets reach critical mass.

Crosslayer gains yet another differentiating advantage from the quality of its people. The expertise of its employees includes networking software development, networking architecture and systems development, ASIC logic and physical design, and board-level hardware design. The company's founders have worked together for more than 12 years at several leading networking equipment vendors, and have built an excellent track record that includes creating and licensing the Cyclone switch architecture to Netvantage Corp. and later managing Cabletron Systems' Netvantage division