Cortina Systems
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductor |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Amir Nayyerhabibi |
| Fate | Acquired by Inphi Corporation in 2014 |
| Headquarters | Sunnyvale , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Amir Nayyerhabibi (President and CEO) |
| Products | Integrated circuits for broadband communications, including Ethernet MACs, transport solutions, framing devices, access products, PHY components, transceivers, and digital home processors |
| Parent | Inphi Corporation (since 2014) |
Cortina Systems, Inc. was a provider of integrated circuit (IC) solutions tailored for broadband communications, established in 2001 by Iranian-American entrepreneur Amir Nayyerhabibi. The company operated out of California.
In 2014, Inphi Corporation completed the acquisition of Cortina Systems.
History
Cortina Systems was launched in 2001 in Menlo Park, California by Amir Nayyerhabibi, who served as president and CEO. The company maintained development facilities across several countries, including the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, and Israel.
The firm’s offerings targeted both computer and telecommunication networking sectors, addressing needs in core, enterprise, metropolitan high-speed networks, as well as digital home environments. Its principal products comprised:
- Ethernet MACs with configurations of 1-, 2-, and 4-port at 10 Gbit/s; and 4-, 10-, 12-, and 24-port at 1 Gbit/s
- Transport solutions ranging from 2.5 Gbit/s up to 100 Gbit/s including FEC/OTN/Ethernet framers and VCAT framers
- Framing devices supporting SONET/SDH POS, ATM, GFP protocols for OC-3 through OC-192 speeds integrating SerDes technology; also RPR framers and bridges
- Access products such as 4-port EPON OLT and ONU devices
- PHY components including Fast Ethernet transceivers and repeaters with up to eight ports
- Transceivers and repeaters for T1/E1 interfaces as well as OC3 transceivers
- Digital Home Processors featuring multi-core architectures designed for storage and security applications
In collaboration with Cisco Systems, Cortina co-created the Interlaken protocol in 2006.
Manufacturing
Operating as a fabless semiconductor company, Cortina delegated all manufacturing processes to external foundries. Its corporate headquarters were located in Sunnyvale, California, with research and development centers situated in Hsinchu (Taiwan), Ottawa (Canada), Raleigh (USA), and Shanghai (China).
Acquisitions
Prior to its acquisition by Inphi Corporation in October 2014—which excluded its Access and Digital Home business units—Cortina expanded through several strategic acquisitions:
| Date | Acquired Company | Area of Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Azanda Network Devices | Products focused on traffic management and ATM Segmentation and Reassembly |
| 2006 | Intel Optical Networking – Component Division | Ethernet framers, PHYs, Optical Transport FEC framers, Ethernet over SONET service framers, T1/E1 Line Interface Units |
| 2007 | Immenstar | System-on-chip technology for passive optical networking |
| 2008 | Storm Semiconductor | Network processors aimed at home applications |