Fulcrum (Calabasas, Calif), aprivately held, fabless company, produces high bandwidth network switchingchips based on an asynchronous switching fabric for data center networkproviders. The acquisition of Fulcrum could give Intel a head start on anend-to-end solution for data centers.
"Intel is transforming from aleading server technology company to a comprehensive data center provider thatoffers computing, storage, and networking building blocks," said KirkSkaugen, Intel vice president and general manager of the company's Data CenterGroup, in a statement. Skaugen said Fulcrum's switch silicon complementsIntel's processors and Ethernet controllers and would enable Intel to offercustomers new levels of performance and energy efficiency while improving theeconomics of cloud service delivery.
Fulcrum, founded in 2000, waspreviously included on early integrations of the EE Times 60 Emerging Startupslist. The company has announced several rounds of venture funding over theyears totaling at least $55 million for the development of its clockless 10Gigabit Ethernet and 40 Gigabit Ethernet chips. Fulcrum's technology removesthe central clock, which can result in chips consuming less power whileperforming at gigahertz performance in standard commodity manufacturingprocesses.
Intel (Santa Clara, Calif) said theacquisition would fulfill an important component in the company's strategy todeliver comprehensive data center building blocks, from server processors andtechnologies to storage and networking.
The acquisition agreement remains subjectto the approval of Fulcrum Microsystems shareholders, as well as regulatoryapproval and other customary closing conditions, Intel said. It is expected toclose in the third quarter of 2011, the company said.
This story was originally posted by EETimes.
Fulcrum buy could signal shift for Intel
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