Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : MRV Communications (MRVC) opinions? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: signist who wrote (6427)	12/13/1997 9:24:00 PM
From: Sector Investor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42804

Interesting article on CPQ entering the GE field next month. Note this section: "Compaq couldn't do it all on its own. It has licensed the Layer 3 switch technology from another vendor that officials won't name. " Could the mystery supplier be MRVC? techweb.com

To: signist who wrote (6427)	12/13/1997 10:07:00 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42804

Agree with the Christmas present John. That would be a great way to finish this year and start the next. For all of you that attended, we were fortunate enough to have Joe Malach from the Motley Fool board there. Joe has been a long time follower of MRVC and has some great technical ability. If Mike, Dan, and Joe could have all attended, it would have been unreal what we could have learned. There were so many points that were over my head it wasnt even funny. Anyway, enjoy the reading. From JMalach Following the shareholder meeting I met with Danial ??? from MRVC to find out whether MRVC had seen the PC Week article entitled (MegaSwitch Not Managable). For those unfamilar with it the article compares the Mega Switch against a similar BAY product. Article stated that they were equal on performance, MRVC switch cost lest per port but that it was unmanageable (because there wasnt a select all button) and one other minor problem with port configuration. The article was very negative in tone towards the Mega Switch even though on price it beat and performance at least matched, if not bettered, the BAY switch. He stated that company had seen the article and at first had been a bit miffed about its tone which is pretty negative. He stated that the company had added the Select All button and fixed the port configuration problem. On further thought Daniel stated in the end they think it was still good for MRVC because most people familiar with networks know that these were easy fixes. It also showed that MRVC had the better price to performance ratio which is all important and the fact that their products are being compared against the big boys only further validates their technology and products. Next we were taken on a tour of the various facilities at MRVC. First we went to their laser/LED manufacturing facility where we were given a tour by the engineer in charge of productions as well as some research. He was a very bright fellow who had been hired from UCSB about a year ago. He stated that they produce about 3 wafers a day with 1400 diodes per wafer. They make a number of types of diodes dependent on application (cell phone, cable TV, Ethernet Tranceivers etc). He showed us the various steps involved in wafer fabrication and diode testing. Towards the end we asked him what new things he was working on. I cant say I understood it all but will say its a interesting technique to perform Wave Division Multiplexing. He stated MRVC would soon be coming out with a product that would allow 4 laser beams down one fiber transmitting Ethernet traffic. This effectively quintuples the bandwidth that can be sent down one fiber thus alleviating the need to run new fiber as more servers are added to data centers etc. We were also told that MRVC is working on some ways to make the lasers and diodes work in harsher environmental conditions which would expand their market. MRVC was also working on fabrication techniques that would allow precise control of the wavelength output and beamwidth of their lasers which would increase power output. Next we were taken on a tour of the facilities where the laser and LED's are packaged into either single connector packages for OEMS or as actual tranceivers and other devices. We were shown a device that MRVC makes that allows Cell Phone transmissions to be received inside buildings. Basically say at a convention center a cell base station is placed outside the building. This base station takes the RF signal and converts it to digital which is transmitted over fiber to these little boxes the MRVC makes which reconverts the digital signal to RF (and vice versa). These devices are placed on individual floors of a building or in strategic points in auditoriums. This allows people to both call and receive calls within buildings. Next we were shown a large number of the two way transmit/receive laser diodes (allows transmission and reception of data over one fiber). These devices are being used by Bell South in the Fiber in the Loop project. Based on what we saw Bell South must be quite busy with the project. We asked if these devices were patented and were told they were not but that the technology in the diode, and the coatings that allow the transmit/receive capability, would be very difficult to reverse engineer. We then asked how many companies produced the coating for the diode and were told two. MRVC owns the machine that makes the coating at one of these companies but lets the experts run it, thus they are guarenteed production. The gentleman giving the tour said that they were selling quite a few of these devices and it sure looked like it at the test station. Next we were shown an instrument that simulates the transmission of 160 cable tv channels. This device is used to test the Distributed Feedback lasers MRVC is selling to General Instrument and other companies for cable TV transmission. During this part of the tour we were also told that MRVC has been buying lasers and LED's on the open market to meet demand and because pricing was reasonable in the market currently. We were also shown a number of connectors the MRVC integrates their lasers or LED's into along with an ATM module that is used in various network switches and converts ATM digital signals to light to be transmitted down fiber. This device along with similar ones for all Ethernet transmission protocols are used in the Nbase products along with in network competitor products. This wrapped up this portion of the tour. I'm sure I forgot some things but we were moving fast so my apologizes. Hopefully Sam will recall some of the things I missed. The final stop of the tour was over in the building where Nbase resides. This was a pretty brief tour. We were shown were Nbase tests products that have been returned for failure reasons. Noticed both Nbase and Pac ???? switches (the Pac products might be what Fujitsu sells). There were a number of these that looked like they were in various stages of being fabricated. We were then shown where the engineers reside and told that they will be the first to be moved to the leased building when it becomes available early next year. Next we were shown the Nbase environmental chamber where Nbase thermal cycles products that customers require meet more stringent environmental standards. We were told that at times this point can become a bottleneck in the production cycle as the thermal tests take over a day. The leased building will have three thermal chambers to alleviate this problem. We were told that most of the production is outsourced to other manufacturers and that Nbase concentrates on making the ASIC's that give them their price and performance advantages. I asked about the relationship with INTC and was told that there are no new developments, that INTC still holds their original shares with the option to purchase the additional shares. MRVC's and Nbases facilities are as spartan as they were last year. There are no fancy offices for the executives and as Sam said in the SI post the place was literally stacked to the roof with products and parts to make the products. It looked like they could put the additional space to good use. We were told that the company wasnt at its max production capability but that they were pretty close during the MRVC tour. The employees seemed to be happy and comprised a number of ethnic groups. Saw a number of people returning from lunch together so looks like they get along well and their cubbys had pictures of familys and the like which is a good sign. On a funny note we were told that the technical director lives less than two blocks away from the facilities. Given his stock ownership he certainly could live in a fancier neighborhood which is a statement to his love of the company and its work. Overall I'm amazed at what a diverse product line MRVC has along with its customer base. They seem to be staying on top of the technology curve. Thanks to all the MRVC personnel who answered our questions, tolerated our technical ignorance, and took the time to give us a tour of the facilities.