Mysticom

Mysticom, established in 1997, operated as a fabless semiconductor company specializing in digital signal processing (DSP) and mixed-signal very-large-scale integration (VLSI) solutions for high-speed communication systems. The company was founded by a team of veterans from the communications industry, including Dr. David Almagor, who served as president and CEO, and Israel Greiss, who acted as the chief technical officer. Dr. Almagor brought over 19 years of experience in the DSP and telecom markets, holding multiple electrical engineering degrees from Technion and the University of California at San Diego. Israel Greiss contributed over 25 years of engineering experience in the same fields. Other co-founders included Amir Bar-Niv, Eran Lida, Massad Eyal, and Rich Seifert.

Mysticom's business model centered on designing and marketing high-performance, low-power multi-gigabit transceivers and licensing intellectual property (IP) cores. The company catered to semiconductor, ASIC, and systems companies, enabling them to develop cost-effective broadband communications solutions. Its product applications were extensive, targeting the data center, enterprise networking, server, storage, and high-definition video markets. End products incorporating Mysticom's technology included network interface cards, routers, switches, and repeaters. The firm's revenue was generated through the sale of its semiconductor products and licensing of its reusable SIP building blocks.

The company's product portfolio included a family of 10 Gigabit Ethernet transceivers compliant with CX4, LX4, and XAUI standards. These transceivers were designed to deliver superior interconnect performance over various cable media, including copper and optical fiber, while significantly reducing power consumption. For instance, the MY3126 provided a CX4 interface for connections up to 30 meters on InfiniBand cable, while the MY3127 was optimized for longer-reach connections over multi-mode fiber up to 300 meters. Mysticom also offered IP cores for Fast Ethernet (10/100) and Gigabit Ethernet PHY applications. A key milestone for the company was its acquisition by TranSwitch Corporation in a deal announced in December 2005 and completed in January 2006. This acquisition allowed TranSwitch to integrate Mysticom's high-speed SerDes and PHY technology into its own product lines. Throughout its operation, Mysticom raised a total of $56.5 million in funding from investors such as ABN AMRO Bank, Cisco Investments, and Giza Venture Capital.

Keywords: fabless semiconductor, mixed-signal VLSI, high-speed communication, multi-gigabit transceivers, DSP cores, Ethernet PHY, SerDes technology, data center interconnect, enterprise networking, semiconductor IP, network interface cards, XAUI transceivers, CX4 transceivers, LX4 transceivers, optical transceivers, copper transceivers, system-on-a-chip, communications processors, analog design, physical layer devices, broadband communications, ASIC solutions