CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA), a leading provider of network testing, visibility, and security solutions, announced today a collaboration with Cisco and Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) to demonstrate 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) traffic with Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) via four-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4) electrical lanes. The demonstration will take place at OFC 2017, to be held March 21 – 23 at the LA Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA.

The live demonstration, available to attendees in the Ethernet Alliance booth #3709 and the FIT booth #2666, is expected to be the first of its kind. It will include multiple companies working together to send and receive IEEE802.3bs compliant, line rate 400 GbE traffic via 50 Gbps PAM4 electrical lanes over the QSFP-DD form factor with passive direct attached copper cable.

“Cisco is pleased with the industry support behind the QSFP-DD, the form-factor of choice for 400 GbE pluggable transceivers and cables. In this early stage of the 400 GbE development, Ixia has taken a leadership role in recognizing the market demand for higher bandwidth solutions and setting a direction with the QSFP-DD form-factor,” said Bill Gartner VP/GM at Cisco.

The 400 GbE ecosystem has been designed to address the growing bandwidth requirements of expanding hyperscale data centers. In fact, according to a recent Cisco report entitled The Zettabyte Era — Trends and Analysis, global IP traffic is expected to increase nearly threefold over the next 5 years. QSFP-DD addresses increasing global bandwidth consumption with its ability to quadruple aggregate switch bandwidth while maintaining port density and backwards compatibility with QSFP28.

“Demonstrating electrical 50 Gbps PAM4 based 400 GbE over the QSFP-DD form factor will be a tremendous milestone for our industry,” said Thananya Baldwin, Senior Director, Strategic Programs at Ixia Labs. “Working with other industry leaders in the QSFP-DD MSA to create this unique technology advancement and to reveal it at OFC has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We encourage everyone attending OFC Exhibit this year to take the time to see the demonstration first hand.”

Ixia continues to extend innovation leadership in Ethernet technology

Based on its own FEC and PCS intellectual property, Ixia was the first company to demonstrate line rate 400 (GbE) technology by combining eight electrical lanes of 50 Gigabits per second (Gbps), defined as 400GAUI-8 by IEEE802.3bs, via four-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4).

Ixia was also the first company to successfully and publicly demonstrate leading edge, IEEE802.3bs draft compliant 400 GbE with KP4 Forward Error Correction (FEC) technology and a 400GAUI-16 electrical interface. These demonstrations, held in Japan and Germany in 2016, help confirm that 400 GbE technology is available and ready to build the next generation of high speed networking products.

Safe Harbor under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Certain statements made in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements including, without limitation, Ixia's expectation that its demonstration of 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) traffic with PAM4 electrical lanes over QSFP-DD at OFC 2017 will be the first of its kind and the expected increase in global IP traffic. In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "project," "predict," "potential," or the like. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties, as well as other factors, may cause future results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include, among others, Ixia’s and its collaborators’ ability to successfully demonstrate 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) traffic with PAM 4 electrical lanes over QSFP-DD at OFC 2017 prior to any such demonstration by other parties and the actual growth rate for global IP traffic. The factors that may cause Ixia’s future results to differ materially from our current expectations also include, without limitation, the risks identified in Ixia’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and in Ixia’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About Ixia

Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA) provides testing, visibility, and security solutions, strengthening applications across physical and virtual networks for enterprises, service providers, and network equipment manufacturers. Ixia offers companies trusted environments in which to develop, deploy, and operate. Customers worldwide rely on Ixia to verify their designs, optimize their performance, and ensure protection of their networks to make their applications stronger. Learn more at www.ixiacom.com.

Ixia and the Ixia logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ixia in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

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