Ciena has purchased the technology and intellectual property of PhyFlex (the former Narad Networks), according to the latter.
Few details were available. The price was not disclosed. Though the acquisition is complete, the two are still negotiating over how much of the staff will be brought along to Ciena. President and CEO Michael Collette will not be joining Ciena, according to a spokesman.
PhyFlex was founded in 2000 as Narad Networks. For most of its life it has been backed by venture capital; its most recent round was last February when it attracted $10 million.
Its most prominent customer is Cablevision, which has been among the most aggressive major U.S. cable operators when it comes to deploying carrier Ethernet services. Hargray Communications is another customer.
PhyFlex was also known to have been in trials with Mediacom Communications Corp., Cogeco Cable, Mexico’s Intercable, and World Multi-Net Co. in South Korea.
As Narad, the company specialized in FTTx implementations for HFC networks. The company in 2006 began expanding into Ethernet switching, and eventually carrier Ethernet became its main focus.
Collette, with experience at Ucentric, OpenTV, ICTV, and TVN, among others, was hired to shepherd the re-focused company.
Carrier Ethernet makes few distinctions when it comes to the physical layer of the network. In recognition of that, and to underscore that the company had changed its focus, it renamed itself PhyFlex in April.
PhyFlex’s assets should complement Ciena’s optical Ethernet portfolio. The sale to Ciena includes the technology at the heart of the company’s FTTxSWITCH, Coax Access Switch, Coax Demarcation Unit, Modems, miniX and Service Management Platform.
The deal also covers PhyFlex’s portfolio of intellectual property, such as out-of-band network architecture and switched Ethernet over HFC patents.
“While the timing of the market wasn’t right for PhyFlex, the direction of the industry today points to success for Carrier Ethernet access network solutions in the years ahead,” said Collette. “We believe that Ciena’s experience and success with carrier-grade optical Ethernet transport and next-generation network solutions makes it a natural fit for maximizing the switched Ethernet and other technologies we’ve developed.”