StrataCom

StrataCom, Inc. was a Silicon Valley communications-equipment company founded in January 1986 by 26 former employees of the failing Packet Technologies, Inc. Based initially in Cupertino, California, the company developed high-speed wide-area-network equipment at a time when telecommunications providers and large enterprises were seeking more efficient ways to carry voice, data, and eventually multimedia traffic over shared networks. Its principal technologies were packet voice, Frame Relay, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switching. The company’s early engineering work grew out of the Integrated Packet Exchange project, a packet-voice initiative associated with Packet Technologies and influenced by the work of Internet pioneer Paul Baran. The resulting IPX system combined voice compression, packetization, and wide-area networking. Its early implementation was a pre-standard form of ATM using 24-byte cells rather than the 53-byte cells later adopted by ATM standards. Even though it predated the final standards, StrataCom’s designs contributed concepts that appeared in subsequent ATM implementations, including CRC-based framing on links. The IPX initially served as a voice-compression and enterprise communications platform. Voice-activity detection and adaptive differential pulse-code modulation enabled four-to-one compression, allowing substantially more telephone calls to share available transmission capacity. The system was later expanded to carry synchronous data and circuit-oriented traffic. Its early deployments included a beta trial with Michigan Bell and a first customer shipment to the May Company for communications between department stores in Southern California. A particularly important deployment supported the Covia and United Airlines flight-reservation system. Other corporate users included CompuServe, Intel, and Hewlett-Packard, while Digital Equipment Corporation and Covia resold the system. DEC also invested in StrataCom in 1990. StrataCom’s most commercially successful early application was Frame Relay. The company participated in Frame Relay standardization work during 1990, and its Frame Relay Processor card was introduced in 1991 and refined in 1992. The technology formed the core of WilTel’s first Frame Relay product and was subsequently used in networks operated by AT&T and CompuServe. StrataCom then developed the BPX, introduced in 1993, which increased switching capacity and supported standards-based 53-byte ATM cells as well as Frame Relay. The company also developed the IGX, a faster evolution of the IPX architecture. StrataCom became a public company in 1992 under the ticker STRM. During the 1990s it expanded from a specialized enterprise communications supplier into a significant carrier-network equipment vendor. Its products helped establish fast-packet switching as a practical approach for high-availability wide-area networks and positioned the company within the rapidly developing ATM and Frame Relay markets. Cisco Systems acquired StrataCom in 1996 for approximately US$4 billion. The transaction ended StrataCom as an independent company and integrated its employees and technology into Cisco’s Multi-Service Switching Business Unit. The acquisition strengthened Cisco’s position in carrier-grade, multiservice, and high-availability networking, extending it beyond its earlier concentration on enterprise internetworking. StrataCom’s legacy therefore rests less on an enduring consumer brand than on its role in commercializing packet-based voice and data switching during the formative period of carrier data networking.

StrataCom was established in January 1986 in Cupertino by 26 former Packet Technologies employees. Its technical heritage came from the Integrated Packet Exchange project, originally associated with packet voice and known during development as PacketDAX. The project combined voice-activity detection, adaptive differential pulse-code modulation, and packet transport to compress voice traffic and carry it across shared links. The first IPX implementation was a pre-standard packet-switching design with 24-byte cells, preceding the later 53-byte ATM format. The company’s first major system, the IPX, began as a voice-compression platform but evolved into an enterprise voice-and-data networking system. A beta deployment took place with Michigan Bell, and the first customer shipment went to the May Company for links between stores in San Diego and Los Angeles. The system gained additional visibility through its use in the Covia and United Airlines flight-reservation backbone and through deployments at organizations including CompuServe, Intel, and Hewlett-Packard. Covia and Digital Equipment Corporation resold the system, and DEC invested in StrataCom in 1990. Frame Relay became the company’s most important commercial direction. StrataCom participated in Frame Relay standardization work in 1990 and introduced the FRP Frame Relay Processor in 1991, with further refinement in 1992. The technology supported early carrier and enterprise Frame Relay networks, including systems associated with WilTel, AT&T, and CompuServe. The company’s later BPX platform, produced in 1993, increased performance and supported the 53-byte cells used by standardized ATM while retaining Frame Relay capabilities. The IGX extended the IPX concept with higher-speed switching. StrataCom went public in 1992 under the symbol STRM. Its growth reflected the broader expansion of carrier data networking and the telecommunications industry’s interest in ATM and Frame Relay as methods for consolidating voice and data services. The company operated from several Silicon Valley locations, moving from Cupertino to Campbell and then San Jose; it also had a manufacturing facility in south San Jose. Cisco Systems acquired StrataCom in 1996 for approximately US$4 billion. Following the transaction, StrataCom employees became part of Cisco’s Multi-Service Switching Business Unit. The acquisition helped Cisco enter carrier-grade and high-availability multiservice networking more deeply. StrataCom subsequently ceased to exist as an independent company, but its IPX, BPX, and IGX work remained influential in the development of commercial packet-based WAN infrastructure.

• 1996

  Cisco acquisition completed

  [1]StrataComen.wikipedia.org

  Cisco Systems acquires StrataCom for approximately US$4 billion, ending its independent corporate existence.

• 1993

  BPX platform produced

  [1]StrataComen.wikipedia.org

  The BPX expands Frame Relay capacity and supports standardized ATM cells.

• 1992

  StrataCom goes public

  [1]StrataComen.wikipedia.org

  The company completes its public listing under the ticker STRM.

• 1991

  Frame Relay Processor introduced

  [1]StrataComen.wikipedia.org

  The FRP card adds Frame Relay switching to the IPX platform and becomes central to the company’s commercial networking strategy.

• 1990

  Frame Relay standardization work

  [1]StrataComen.wikipedia.org

  StrataCom participates in the emerging standardization of Frame Relay and receives investment from Digital Equipment Corporation.

• 1986

  StrataCom is founded

  [1]StrataComen.wikipedia.org

  Twenty-six former Packet Technologies employees establish StrataCom in Cupertino, California.

• 1986

  Initial IPX system is developed

  [1]StrataComen.wikipedia.org

  The company develops the IPX packet-voice and communications system, using an early 24-byte-cell switching architecture.

A specialist supplier of carrier-grade and enterprise wide-area-network switching systems, differentiated by early commercial fast-packet, packet-voice, Frame Relay, and ATM technology.

• Packet voice and WAN switching system · 1986

  IPX

  The IPX was StrataCom’s foundational communications platform. It began as a packet-voice system using voice-activity detection and ADPCM compression, then expanded to support enterprise voice, synchronous data, circuit data, and Frame Relay. The original system used cards such as the Processor Control Card, Voice Data Processor, Voice Compressor-Decompressor, and T1 transmission interface. Later generations added V.35, RS-422, RS-232, E1, echo cancellation, and Frame Relay functions.

• Frame Relay processor · 1991

  FRP

  The Frame Relay Processor was introduced as an IPX card in 1991 and refined in 1992. It implemented the segmentation and reassembly functions needed for Frame Relay and made the IPX suitable for carrier and enterprise Frame Relay networks. The technology was used in early networks associated with WilTel, AT&T, and CompuServe.

• ATM and Frame Relay switch · 1993

  BPX

  Introduced in 1993, the BPX was a faster and more sophisticated successor to StrataCom’s earlier switching systems. It supported the 53-byte cells adopted by ATM standards while also serving Frame Relay applications. The platform was used by AT&T in its Frame Relay network and represented StrataCom’s movement toward carrier-scale multiservice switching.

• WAN switch

  IGX

  The IGX was a higher-speed evolution of the IPX architecture. It used a bus adapter and related design changes to increase switching performance, extending StrataCom’s product family for enterprise and carrier wide-area networking requirements.

• 1996

  Accept Cisco Systems acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Cisco sought to expand from enterprise internetworking into carrier-grade, high-availability multiservice networking.

  Action taken

  Cisco Systems acquired StrataCom for approximately US$4 billion.

  Aftermath

  StrataCom ceased operating independently, and its employees formed the core of Cisco’s Multi-Service Switching Business Unit.

  Acquisition value. Approximately US$4 billion (1996 acquisition)

  Source

• 1993

  Move to the BPX platformGeneration change

  Background

  The IPX’s early 24-byte-cell design predated the 53-byte cell format adopted by ATM standards, while carriers required greater capacity and standards compatibility.

  Action taken

  StrataCom produced the BPX with higher performance and support for standards-based ATM cells alongside Frame Relay.

  Aftermath

  The BPX strengthened StrataCom’s position in carrier networking and was used by AT&T in its Frame Relay network.

  Source

• 1991

  Add Frame Relay to the IPX familyProduct launch

  Background

  Frame Relay was emerging as an important technology for efficient packet-based wide-area networking, and StrataCom had participated in related standardization work.

  Action taken

  StrataCom introduced the FRP card, adding Frame Relay processing to the IPX system.

  Aftermath

  Frame Relay became the company’s most commercially successful IPX application and supported deployments by major carriers and service providers.

  Source

1. 1StrataComen.wikipedia.org