Curtiss-Wright Controls Debuts 5th Generation Single-Slot Physical Layer Switch

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DAYTON, OH – June 14, 2010 -- Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems (CWCEL), a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls, and the originator of the Physical Layer Switch (PLS), has announced the availability of its new SLX4000 non-blocking, multi-protocol PLS. The SLX4000 is a “5th Generation” Layer 1 PLS packaged in a small, compact rack-mountable 1.5U single-slot package. The SLX4000 is able to connect any serial digital signal input, up to 10 Gb/s, to any single output. Its flexible, expandable crossbar switch performance enables users to control their network configurations while reducing set-up time, limiting network errors, and cutting costs. Designed for industrial, defense and aerospace applications, the SLX4000 speeds and eases the integration of high performance switching.

“Curtiss-Wright Controls' SLX4000 delivers optimal switching capability, unmatched signal integrity, and program flexibility from development to deployment,” said David Dietz, vice president and general manager of Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems.

Because the protocol or structure of data routed through the switch passes through unaltered, the SLX4000 can be used with many different types of networks and signals.

The SLX4000 can be configured using one of CWCEL’s family of GLX/SLXport cards. The port card supports 48 (12 if 10 Gbps) channels of I/O. Available port cards include a variety of serial data transmission needs including 1, 2, 4, and 8 and 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gb/s Ethernet, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Serial FPDP as well as many other serial digital signals.

The SLX4000 switch comes equipped with hot-swappable power supplies, a port card and SFPs to enable users to quickly add or replace parts without impacting system up-time. A Compact Flash module acts as the switch's disk drive for the CPU and can be removed for Security reasons.

Key Advantages of the SLX4000 PLS Approach

* The SLX4000 supports automated testing to significantly reduce network errors. Using a password protected connection via Ethernet (or RS-232) the user can remotely change topologies and emulate optical power loss or cable breaks. Scripts may be written in PERL, TCL, or other popular languages using the simple, but powerful CLI.

* When connected to the SLX4000, expensive resources such as network analyzers, sniffers, and data recorders can be shared among users and departments, resulting in significant cost reductions.

* The SLX4000 supports flexible media conversion, enabling, for example, copper media input to be output using optical media. 850 nm optical can be easily changed to 1550 nm optical for DWDM applications.

* Another benefit of a PLS is the ability to “wire once”. After connecting all network devices under test, all topology changes or fault tests can be simply applied using the switch via the GUI and CLI, delivering significant reductions in system configuration time costs.

SLX4000 Physical Layer Switch Features:

* Multi-protocol, multi-rate support

* Point-to-point (full or half duplex), multicast (1 to many), and loop (with auto loop feature) topologies

* Non-blocking, any input port to any output port(s)

* Hot swappable port cards, power supplies, and transceivers

* Media conversion copper-to-optical

* Web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Command Line Interface (CLI)

* Supports unlimited GUI and CLI (Telnet or SSH) sessions

* Alias names for each port and for groups of ports

SLX4000 Web-based GUI

The SLX4000 web-based GUI software greatly simplifies the configuration management. Simply log on to web-based GUI via you Internet browser to access the switch. Configurations can be saved and restored on-the-fly. The web-based GUI also provides the user with real-time monitoring of the unit’s chassis and port cards.

Sales & Editorial Contacts

For more information on this product or our other high-integrity computing solutions:

Sales Phone (U.S.): 1-800-252-5601 x1363

Sales Phone (Int'l): +1-937-252-5601 x1363

Sales Info: systeminfo@curtisswright.com

Product Info: www.cwcelectronicsystems.com/slx4000.html

For pricing and availablility of the SLX4000, please contact the factory.

For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems products or services, contact John Wranovics, public relations director, Curtiss-Wright Controls, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. jwranovics@curtisswright.com.