NEWS: Ancor, Litton Data Systems Penetrating Military Fibre Channel Market
biz.yahoo.com
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Ancor Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANCR - news) and Litton Systems Inc., Data Systems Division of Agoura Hills, Calif., have joined forces to deliver high-performance Fibre Channel solutions to defense, military and government markets.
Ken Hendrickson, Ancor chairman and chief executive officer, said Litton's systems integration expertise and market knowledge complements Ancor's Fibre Channel technology leadership. This combination provides a single-stop resource for powerful data communications solutions based on Fibre Channel technology to serve the mission-critical requirements of this demanding market.
According to Michael Crawford, Litton principal systems engineer, an emphasis on established standards, performance, reliability and out-of-the-box connectivity has positioned Fibre Channel as a preferred data communications technology for mission-critical, real-time military and government applications. ''Several factors influenced our selection of Fibre Channel,'' he said. ''Fibre Channel offers a class of service that guarantees data frame delivery without invoking a higher level protocol, such as TCP/IP. Lost frames in a tactical real-time environment are not acceptable. Fibre Channel is implemented according to established ANSI standards which should lead to increased interoperability between vendor products. Ancor's Fiber Channel switches provide for a self-configuring network, eliminating complex network management activities upon system startup. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) initiatives are requiring developers to integrate systems with established, industry-standard commercial technologies such as Fibre Channel; but most importantly, today's military and defense customers tend to make strategic technical decisions that can serve their needs now and into the future. It's clear that Fibre Channel matches this strategic profile.''
Specifically, Ancor and Litton are working on an upgrade to a fielded mobile command and control system for the U.S. Marine Corp, replacing certain full military specification equipment with COTS components. This project involves a quantity of field-deployed systems that serve as airspace command and control centers, processing and distributing key tactical data used to support execution of military plans. These systems use Ancor's GigWorks switches and adapters to connect Sun workstations, VME-embedded workstations and voice communications switching equipment utilizing a redundant architecture designed to increase the performance and reliability necessary for tactical conditions.
''Similar to our recent contract with Boeing to provide GigWorks switches for a proposed upgrade of the Airborne Warning and Command System (AWACS), this application involves massive amounts of data that need to be distributed and processed in real time to provide the best possible inputs to guide command decisions,'' Hendrickson said. ''Clearly, Fibre Channel is a proven performer in these demanding environments.''
About Litton
Litton Industries, Inc. (NYSE: LIT - news) is a technology-based Fortune 500 company headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif., with operations throughout the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Litton has sales over $4 billion and employs 29,000 people worldwide. Litton is a leader in high technology world markets for navigation, guidance and control, electronic warfare and command, control and communications systems and information technology. Litton Data Systems division was established in 1958 as part of the growing Litton Industries family. The strategic focus of Litton Data Systems is
the design and delivery of command, control, and communications systems to the U.S. Department of Defense and allied foreign governments. Annual sales currently average about $200 million and employment is over 1,400 people in California, Mississippi, and field offices throughout the U.S. and the world.
About Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel is an ANSI-standard, high-speed, low-latency data communications technology that provides gigabit-per-second transmission rates in storage/server environments and high-performance networks. Ancor GigWorks(TM) products combine the speed and simplicity of channels with the flexibility of networks to solve bandwidth problems caused by the transfer of large data files among storage, server and client nodes in high-performance compute environments. Ancor Fibre Channel products provide optimal speed and throughput for data-intensive applications such as shared storage, CAD/CAM, visualization, data mining and file backup.
About Ancor Communications
Ancor Communications, Inc. provides GigWorks(TM) high-performance storage and data-intensive network solutions based on Fibre Channel technology. The company was the first to deliver a Fibre Channel switch, and the first to top the one-gigabit performance level. In addition to Fibre Channel switches, Ancor products also include adapters and connectivity solutions. Ancor is a member of the Fibre Channel Association, Fibre Channel Loop Community, the ANSI Standards Committee and the University of New Hampshire Fibre Channel Consortium to promote the advancement of Fibre Channel standards and interoperability. Information on Ancor is available on the World Wide Web at ancor.com
Forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 are qualified by the risk factors outlined in the documents Ancor Communications, Inc. files with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE: Ancor Communications, Inc. |
