AMCC Introduces Industry's First SONET OC-48 Transceiver: Successfully Validated in Alcatel's 1603SMX System.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 1999--

The First in a Line of OC-48 Transceivers Scheduled to be Released

Throughout the Year, AMCC's New S3046 Offers Superior Design and

Power Savings Over Other Traditional OC-48 Solutions

On the Market

Leading high-bandwidth silicon connectivity provider Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) (Nasdaq:AMCC) today introduced the industry's first transceiver for SONET OC-48 applications, the S3046, which has already been incorporated and validated in Alcatel's 1603SMX OC-48 system.

Designed to support 2.5 GHz SONET/SDH/ATM-based transmission systems and Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) applications, AMCC's S3046 is the first in a family of low-power, high-performance OC-48 transceivers scheduled to be released throughout 1999. The S3046 has the industry's lowest power dissipation (1.8W), and offers a compelling combination of jitter performance, price, size and temperature range, in addition to superior technical support.

"We chose to design the S3046 into our 1603SMX system because of its technical capabilities and AMCC's good board engineering and product support," said Jak Yaemsiri, Alcatel's 1603SMX hardware manager. "We are very pleased with the S3046's performance in our system and our working relationship with AMCC."

AMCC's S3046 supports a low-jitter LVPECL interface that guarantees compliance with Bellcore, ANSI and ITU-T bit-error rate standards. The S3046 offers designers of SONET/SDH-based transmission systems, modules and test equipment a compact package outline (225-pin TBGA) suitable for section repeaters, add drop multiplexors, broadband cross connectors and fiber optic terminators. With an industrial temperature range of -40(degree)C to 85(degree)C, the S3046 also meets the needs of remote telecommunications equipment design which requires an extended operating range.

In addition, the S3046 transceiver is coupled with a 311 MHz low voltage differential signal (LVDS) data path interface that facilitates high-speed CMOS compatibility. (Refer to Figure 1 which illustrates a typical network application.)

The S3046 transceiver consists of a serial transmit interface and a serial receive. It also incorporates on-chip clock synthesis Phased Locked Loop (PLL) components allowing the use of a slower 155.52 MHz external transmit clock reference. In addition, the S3046 performs all necessary parallel-to-serial and serial-to-parallel functions, clock synthesis, frame detection, system clock decoupling, line loopback and diagnostic loopback functions in conformance with SONET/SDH transmission standards.

"AMCC is dedicated to providing our customers with new levels of integration and performance," said Ken Prentiss, AMCC's telecom marketing manager. "The introduction of AMCC's S3046 exemplifies our commitment to provide industry-leading silicon solutions for the SONET/SDH and DWDM OC-48 marketplace through our superior design and process capabilities."

Pricing and Availability

Currently in production, the S3046 is priced at $250 each when purchased in quantities of 100.

AMCC is a premier supplier of high-bandwidth silicon connectivity for the world's communication infrastructure. The company utilizes its world class expertise in mixed-signal design and multiple silicon process technologies to provide high performance silicon solutions for SONET, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel markets. AMCC's core technologies also address ATE and high-speed computing needs.

AMCC's corporate headquarters and wafer fabrication facilities are located in San Diego. Sales and consulting engineering offices are located throughout the world.

For further information regarding AMCC and its products, write: Marketing Communication Department, AMCC, 6290 Sequence Drive, San Diego, Calif. 92121-4358; or call 800/755-AMCC (800/755-2622) or 619/450-9333; or fax [phone]; or email [e-mail]; or visit our Web site at http://www.amcc.com.

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements, including such factors as the rescheduling or cancellation of orders by customers; fluctuations in the timing and amount of customer requests for product shipments; fluctuations in manufacturing yields and inventory levels; changes in product mix; the company's ability to introduce new products and technologies on a timely basis; the introduction of products and technologies by the company's competitors; the availability of external foundry capacity, purchase parts, and raw materials; competitive pressures on selling prices, the timing of investments in research and development; market acceptance of the company's and its customer's products; the timing of depreciation and other expenses to be incurred by the company in connection with the expansion of its existing manufacturing facility and in connection with its proposed new manufacturing facility; the timing and amount of recruiting and relocation expenses, prototyping costs and promotional expenses; costs associated with future litigation, if any, including without limitation, litigation relating to the use of ownership of intellectual property; costs associated with compliance with applicable environmental regulation; general semiconductor industry conditions; and general economic conditions, including, but not limited to, economic conditions in Asia and the risk factors that are detailed in the Final Prospectus relating to the recent initial public offering of the company's Common Stock, the Preliminary Prospectus relating to the company's current public offering, and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Product photos, datasheets and application notes are available upon request. AMCC is a registered trademark of Applied Micro Circuits Corp.