Sentient Networks
Encyclopedia
Sentient Networks was a San Jose, California
based supplier of Asynchronous Transfer Mode
and Frame Relay
central office concentrators and switches.
. They developed the industry's highest density ATM Circuit Emulation Service
(CES) Gateway
designed by Network Synthesis, acquired by Integrated Telecom Technology
in 1996, and further acquired by PMC-Sierra
in 1998 to both implement their Circuit Emulation Service
as well as to just carry T1/E1 signals across their backplane.
was one of their venture capital
backers. Sentient Networks was founded in 1995.
They negotiated an OEM agreement with DSC Communitations in 1997 for their Ultimate 1000 product.
Sentient was acquired by Cisco Systems
, also of San Jose, California
, on April 8, 1999 in combination with Fibex Systems for $445 Million dollars. At the time, they had 102 employees. Their CEO was Greg McAdoo
. They joined the Multi-Service Switching business unit (MSSBU) of Cisco, which was the part of Cisco created by their acquisition of Stratacom
.
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
based supplier of Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...
and Frame Relay
Frame relay
Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network technology that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology...
central office concentrators and switches.
Market space
Sentient made products for internet service providers, inter-exchange carriers, and Regional Bell Operating CompaniesRegional Bell Operating Company
The Regional Bell Operating Companies are the result of United States v. AT&T, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company . On January 8, 1982, AT&T Corp. settled the suit and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating...
. They developed the industry's highest density ATM Circuit Emulation Service
Circuit Emulation Service
Circuit Emulation Service is an emerging telecommunication technology used to transmit time-division multiplexed services such as the traditional Digital Signal and the E-carrier circuits over Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks...
(CES) Gateway
Technology used
They used the AAL1gatorAAL1gator
The AAL1gator is a semiconductor device that implements the Circuit Emulation Service. It was developed between 1994 and 1998 and became a run-away success. It also played a role in the acquisition of four companies. The name was based on the fact that the AAL1gator implements the ATM AAL-1...
designed by Network Synthesis, acquired by Integrated Telecom Technology
Integrated Telecom Technology
Integrated Telecom Technology, Inc., known as "IgT" was a fabless semiconductor company founded in 1991 by Ken Lee, Greg Werth, Imran Chaudhri, Jerry Tall, and Chi Wai in Gaithersburg, Maryland. IgT was one of the first companies to focus on semiconductors for the communications marketplace...
in 1996, and further acquired by PMC-Sierra
PMC-Sierra
PMC-Sierra is a fabless semiconductor company which develops and sells devices into the communications, storage, printing, and embedded computing marketplaces.-Corporate history:...
in 1998 to both implement their Circuit Emulation Service
Circuit Emulation Service
Circuit Emulation Service is an emerging telecommunication technology used to transmit time-division multiplexed services such as the traditional Digital Signal and the E-carrier circuits over Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks...
as well as to just carry T1/E1 signals across their backplane.
Corporate history
Sequoia CapitalSequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a Californian venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital "one of the highest-caliber venture firms", and noted that it is "one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture-capital firms"...
was one of their venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
backers. Sentient Networks was founded in 1995.
They negotiated an OEM agreement with DSC Communitations in 1997 for their Ultimate 1000 product.
Sentient was acquired by Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
, also of San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, on April 8, 1999 in combination with Fibex Systems for $445 Million dollars. At the time, they had 102 employees. Their CEO was Greg McAdoo
Greg McAdoo
Greg McAdoo is a venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital in Silicon Valley. Greg specializes in internet services, mobile, energy and technology investments. Greg currently serves on the board of Achates Power, Airbnb, Bump Technologies, Clustrix, Imageshack, Loopt, Powerfile and RockYou...
. They joined the Multi-Service Switching business unit (MSSBU) of Cisco, which was the part of Cisco created by their acquisition of Stratacom
StrataCom
StrataCom, Inc. was founded in Cupertino, California, USA, in January 1986 by 26 former employees of the failing Packet Technologies, Inc. StrataCom produced the first commercial cell switch, also known as a fast-packet switch. Its product was the working proof of the technology which became...
.