Xros

About Xros

Xros Inc. was a California-based startup founded in 1996 that developed state-of-the-art fiber-optic switching systems for telecommunications networks. The company emerged as a significant player during the dot-com era's telecommunications boom, addressing the massive network scaling challenges posed by the widespread adoption of Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology.

In March 2000, at the Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) exhibition, Xros unveiled its flagship product, the X-1000. This was an all-optical cross-connect system that set a new industry benchmark for capacity, capable of scaling up to 1,152 pairs of input and output ports. The system utilized advanced micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology, which employed arrays of microscopic mirrors to physically steer light signals from input to output fibers. This all-optical pathway meant that light signals did not need to be converted into electrical signals for switching, making the hardware independent of data rates and protocols and thus "future-proof" against upcoming transmission technologies.

The X-1000 was designed to provide carriers with a scalable and cost-effective solution to manage the exploding number of wavelengths on their network backbones. It offered genuine switching capabilities with a connection speed of less than 50 milliseconds, fast enough to be used for network protection and rerouting in case of a failure. Shortly after its product launch, in a move that highlighted the intense demand for such technology, Nortel Networks acquired Xros for approximately $3.25 billion in March 2000.