Cerent Corporation

Cerent Corporation

Company type	Private
Industry	Optical equipment, Networking hardware
Founded	1997 in Petaluma, California, United States
Founder	Raj Singh, Jay Sethuram, Ajaib Bhadare, Paul Elliott
Defunct	1999
Fate	Acquired by Cisco Systems
Headquarters	Petaluma , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Vinod Khosla (venture capitalist), Mike Hatfield (CEO)
Products	Cerent 454 (SONET Add-Drop Multiplexer)
Parent	Cisco Systems (since 1999)

Cerent Corporation was a manufacturer specializing in optical equipment, headquartered in Petaluma, California. Established in 1997 under the name Fiberlane Communications, the venture was backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla playing a key management role. Initially, the company operated through three separate divisions: Systems located in Petaluma, Chip Design based in Mountain View, California, and Network Management Systems situated in Burnaby, British Columbia. In early 1998, the firm underwent a division; the Petaluma segment emerged as Cerent, while the Burnaby and Mountain View units formed Siara Systems, which was later purchased by Redback Networks in 1999.

The Cerent 454

The Cerent 454, later renamed Cisco 15454, stood as the company's premier product—a second-generation SONET Add-Drop Multiplexer (ADM) featuring support for TCP/IP data switching. It enabled adding and dropping circuits ranging from OC-192 to Digital Signal 1 (DS1) and was subsequently enhanced to accommodate wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). Distinct from prior ADMs, the 454 incorporated data switching capabilities within a unified chassis, removing the necessity for separate routing devices. This integration significantly lowered operational costs for carriers by merging ADM and routing functionalities.

Additional benefits included a compact design, elevated port density, increased chip-level integration, and reduced power usage compared to competing products. It was among the earliest network devices to employ TCP/IP alongside a web server for management purposes, allowing administration over conventional TCP/IP networks instead of traditional OSI protocols. This strategy, led by Chip Roberson, utilized an embedded Wind River Systems operating system with a TCP/IP stack—substantially cutting development expenses critical for the startup phase.

Founding Team

The company’s founding members were Raj Singh, Jay Sethuram, Ajaib Bhadare, and Paul Elliott. The initial team at the time of funding consisted of:

• Petaluma - Systems Division (Cerent)
  • Mike Hatfield
  • Tom Corker
  • Ajaib Bhadare
  • Paul Elliott
  • Chip Roberson
  • David Scott
• Mountain View - Chip Design Division (Siara)
  • Raj Singh
  • Jay Sethuram
  • Mike Iriarte
  • Anu Nigam
• Burnaby - Network Management System Division (Siara)
  • Alnoor Shivji
  • Sigfried Luft

The founding board included Raj Singh, Vinod Nair, and Don Green—known as the "Father of Telecom Valley". Shortly thereafter, Mike Hatfield succeeded Raj Singh as CEO.

Acquisition by Cisco Systems

In August 1999, Cisco Systems purchased the company for $7.2 billion, establishing it as the cornerstone of Cisco’s Optical Transport Business Unit. The Cerent 454 was rebranded as the Cisco 15454, quickly reaching an annual sales figure of $1 billion and generating $250 million during its second quarter under Cisco’s ownership.

Subsequently, in November 1999, Redback acquired Siara Systems for $4.3 billion.

External links

• Cisco Systems to acquire Cerent Corporation and Monterey Networks