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Force10 Networks Awarded Patent For Circuit Board Fabrication To Reduce Power Delivery Costs

January 21, 2009 by Jeff Shepard

Force10 Networks®, which focuses on building and securing reliable networks, announced that it has been awarded a patent for its design innovations concerning circuit board fabrication for its high performance switch/routers. Designed to provide increased design efficiency, the advances protected by Force10’s patent are said to be crucial to enable the delivery of a higher volume of boards that helps drive down the cost of the backplane of its TeraScale E-Series switch/routers.

"These back-plane fabrication innovations are critical to advancing our technology to ensure we’re supporting the increased traffic throughput needs of our customers at the lowest total cost of ownership," said Joel Goergen, Force10 Networks Chief Scientist. "New and emerging applications are placing unprecedented demands on networks, while managers, more than ever, are tasked with building a cost-effective, resilient, and reliable infrastructure – and this patent is an additional step in meeting both goals."

The TeraScale E-Series backplane, which delivers throughput of five Terabits per second, provides a crucial element to supporting seamless scalability without compromising performance. Additionally, the fully passive copper backplane of the TeraScale E-Series delivers inherent reliability, eliminating it as a point of failure in the system.

The patented fabrication method enables Force10 to use three ounces or more copper weight in a high speed, high layer count where there is both primary and secondary power, eliminating the need to utilize busbar technology or separate power boards to route the power. This patented capability facilitates the ability to build a single, lower-cost back plane solution for signals and power.