Hifn
Encyclopedia
Hifn is a semiconductor
manufacturer founded in 1996 as a spin-off from Stac Electronics
. The company is headquartered in Los Gatos, California
, and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. It is active in the market of security processors. Following the initial public offering
in 1998, the company's stock was formerly traded on the NASDAQ
under the symbol HIFN
Hifn holds the patents for the LZS
and MPPC
compression algorithm
s.
Hifn was the first company to offer a processor with integrated encryption and compression in 1998, and followed this in 1999 with the world's fastest security processor for VPNs.
In 2000, Hifn invented an Intelligent Packet Processor - a security co-processor capable of not just performing raw algorithm processing, but of modifying the complete packet, allowing their processors to transform an IP
packet into an IPSec
packet in a single pass in the security processor with only the Policy and IPSec Stack being required on the host CPU.
They were the first to offer a security processor featuring the new AES
algorithm in 2001.
In 2004 they followed on from their Packet Processor with a complete IPSec protocol processor - an Inline processor capable of performing the entire IPSec and IKE
processing with no CPU intervention required. They also adapted this processor for the SAN
market, for applications such as iSCSI
.
Hifn also offers security processors for Secure VoIP and WiMax
applications, and its technology innovator, offering technologies for "application-aware" flow classifiers and search engines.
In earlier 2004, Hifn acquired part of IBM Network Processor assets in addition to PowerNP's intellectual property license. Since then Hifn became the sole vendor of PowerNP (IBM code: Rainier) to a couple of telecom/datacom equipment industrial players.
On April 3, 2009, Exar Corporation (a semiconductor manufacturer) closed the acquisition of hi/fn, inc. The transaction was a stock+cash deal.
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
manufacturer founded in 1996 as a spin-off from Stac Electronics
Stac Electronics
Stac Electronics, originally incorporated as State of the Art Consulting and later shortened to Stac, Inc, was a technology company founded in 1983...
. The company is headquartered in Los Gatos, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. It is active in the market of security processors. Following the initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
in 1998, the company's stock was formerly traded on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
under the symbol HIFN
Hifn holds the patents for the LZS
Lempel–Ziv–Stac
Lempel-Ziv-Stac is a lossless data compression algorithm that uses a combination of the LZ77 sliding-window compression algorithm and fixed Huffman coding. It was originally developed by Stac Electronics for hard disk compression, and sold as the Stacker disk compression software. It was later...
and MPPC
Microsoft Point-to-Point Compression
Microsoft Point-to-Point Compression is a streaming data compression algorithm based on an implementation of Lempel–Ziv using a sliding window buffer...
compression algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
s.
Hifn was the first company to offer a processor with integrated encryption and compression in 1998, and followed this in 1999 with the world's fastest security processor for VPNs.
In 2000, Hifn invented an Intelligent Packet Processor - a security co-processor capable of not just performing raw algorithm processing, but of modifying the complete packet, allowing their processors to transform an IP
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
packet into an IPSec
IPsec
Internet Protocol Security is a protocol suite for securing Internet Protocol communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet of a communication session...
packet in a single pass in the security processor with only the Policy and IPSec Stack being required on the host CPU.
They were the first to offer a security processor featuring the new AES
Advanced Encryption Standard
Advanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...
algorithm in 2001.
In 2004 they followed on from their Packet Processor with a complete IPSec protocol processor - an Inline processor capable of performing the entire IPSec and IKE
IKE
IKE may refer to:* The IKE Group, a research group at the Department of Business Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark* Ikerasak Heliport , a heliport in Ikerasak, Qaasuitsup, Greenland...
processing with no CPU intervention required. They also adapted this processor for the SAN
Storage area network
A storage area network is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices...
market, for applications such as iSCSI
ISCSI
In computing, iSCSI , is an abbreviation of Internet Small Computer System Interface, an Internet Protocol -based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage...
.
Hifn also offers security processors for Secure VoIP and WiMax
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
applications, and its technology innovator, offering technologies for "application-aware" flow classifiers and search engines.
In earlier 2004, Hifn acquired part of IBM Network Processor assets in addition to PowerNP's intellectual property license. Since then Hifn became the sole vendor of PowerNP (IBM code: Rainier) to a couple of telecom/datacom equipment industrial players.
On April 3, 2009, Exar Corporation (a semiconductor manufacturer) closed the acquisition of hi/fn, inc. The transaction was a stock+cash deal.