StrataCom, Inc. was a supplier of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Frame Relay high-speed wide area network (WAN) switching equipment. StrataCom was founded in Cupertino, California, United States, in January 1986, by 26 former employees of the failing Packet Technologies, Inc. StrataCom produced the first commercial cell switch, also known as a fast-packet switch. ATM was one of the technologies underlying the world's communications systems in the 1990s.
Origins of the IPX at Packet Technologies
Internet pioneer Paul Baran was a founder of PacketCable and provided the spark of invention of packet voice at the initiation of the Integrated Packet Exchange (IPX) project. Packet voice was first thought of as an add-on to PacketCable's advanced cable system but soon became a telephony product. PacketCable was renamed Packet Technologies as a result of the addition of the IPX project to the company. (StrataCom's IPX communication system is unrelated to Novell's IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange protocol.)
The IPX was initially known as the PacketDAX, which was a play on words of Digital access and cross-connect system (or DACS). A rich collection of inventions were contained in the IPX, and many were provided by the other members of the development team. The names on the original three IPX patents are Paul Baran, Charles Corbalis,[1] Brian Holden, Jim Marggraff,[2]