High power maths speed up computer networks

What name would you choose for a company that specialises in using high-power mathematics as a way to speed up computer communications…

What name would you choose for a company that specialises in using high-power mathematics as a way to speed up computer communications? The firm involved, which has offices in Dublin and San Jose, California, decided on Massana Ltd, although the moniker doesn't really tell you very much. "We struggled to come up with a name that described what we do. Consequently we gave up," explained Mr Paul Costigan, Massana's chief executive officer. He admitted the company really didn't mind, however, because the customers like it fine.

Massana is a research driven company that designs and develops devices which accelerate and clean up computer communications. Its customer base includes electronics giants such as Motorola, Alcatel, Toshiba and Analog Devices.

"These devices are the things that enable faster Internet access, video on demand and extremely high-speed computer networks within large enterprises," he said. "What we are doing is stuffing more bits down a channel which was never created for that volume of material, such as a telephone line."

While the concepts sound straightforward, actually delivering them is a highly complex business. Success is based on two things, creating elaborate mathematical formulas known as algorithms and then designing custom-tailored integrated circuits (ICs) into which the algorithms can be imbedded.

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Most competitor companies, Mr Costigan said, either designed circuits or developed algorithms. Massana did both however, and this gave the company a competitive edge.

It was all based on DSP, digital signal processing, he said. "We develop DSP algorithms." All of the staff held either MEng degrees or PhDs, allowing for the creation of a cross-disciplinary team which handled both sides of the problem, algorithm design and IC design. The two elements could be optimised before integration in a modem or network, for example, which in turn delivered better results, he said. Having control over the entire process meant "high performance at a low cost and low power demand, and that is everything in the semiconductor industry". The company designs and develops these devices and then licenses them to manufacturers such as modem producers. "Really what we are is an intellectual property company."

The firm was established in 1994 as a UCD campus company. "It started out of a group of individuals who had been out working in the industry and who came back to start up a research group." It moved away from UCD in 1996 and now flies under its own power although it still maintains a "research relationship" with the university.

It currently employs 20 people in Dublin and San Jose and Mr Costigan expects this to reach 25 by January 1999. Half are Irish with the other half coming from France, Spain, Britain and Turkey.

The move to the US is new and part of an "unashamed repositioning" which will allow the company to establish a shopfront in the biggest IT shopping mall of them all, Silicon Valley. "We seek to reposition ourselves as a Silicon Valley-based company with an engineering base back in Europe." The move was both encouraged and facilitated by Enterprise Ireland.

The great advantage is that the company lands in amongst all of the world's key companies involved in advanced communications and computer technology, firms which understand the complex world of communications algorithms. "That is the place where all the action happens."

Massana has enjoyed very rapid growth since its foundation, Mr Costigan said. "Revenue growth has been 50 per cent per year and that is not going to stop." Revenues for 1998 are expected to reach $2 million, he indicated. Given its US presence it is also structuring itself for an eventual share placement, with all employees holding share options.

Dick Ahlstrom

Dick Ahlstrom

Dick Ahlstrom, a contributor to The Irish Times, is the newspaper's former Science Editor.