Agilent Technologies and Cisco Systems Host First Session of Industry Working Group to Develop New Standard for Production-Testing of High-Speed Technology.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2001

31-Member Group Agrees on Goals, Reviews Solutions, Elects Officers

Industry leaders Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) and Cisco Systems (NasdaqNM:CSCO) today announced the results of the first session of the high-tech industry working group which assembled Monday to discuss development of a new standard for production-testing of the latest Internet-enabling technology.

The AC-Extest Working Group, which met at Agilent's Fort Collins, Colo. site, has agreed on the defect spectrum and criteria for judging proposals, and has reviewed three separate proposed solutions from Philips, Cisco and Agilent. The participants will spend the next few weeks discussing the pros and cons of each solution. A "proof of concept" is expected by late summer. Elected officers of the working group are: Chair, William Eklow of Cisco Systems; Vice-Chair, Carl Barnhart of IBM; and Editor, Ken Parker of Agilent.

The first session included 31 attendees from 20 companies representing a broad cross-section of the industry, including contract manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), integrated-circuit (IC) vendors and automated test equipment (ATE) companies.

Kamran Firooz, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Manufacturing Test Business Unit welcomed the group with a brief address. Firooz, who is also the EP&P Engineer of the Year, expressed his appreciation to the many companies who are willing to commit time and resources to develop a new standard even in the face of constraining economic conditions.

The group plans to address the industry-wide impact from high-speed (GHz) technology that places new demands on manufacturing, testing and assembling Internet components. Until recently, the primary interconnections between integrated circuits on printed-circuit boards were DC-coupled, and test techniques were well established for quality assurance. The new high-speed technology has introduced AC-coupled networks between integrated circuits on printed-circuit boards and in systems, which could render widely adopted testing techniques obsolete.

The working group plans to develop a new standard which enables electronics manufacturers to retain and extend the use of their existing investment in test strategies.

Attending the meeting were representatives from: Agilent Technologies, Altera, Anritsu, APG Test Consultants, Asset-Intertech, Cisco Systems, EMC, Genrad, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intellitech Corporation, JTAG Technologies, LogicVision, LSI Logic, Lucent Technologies, Mitel, National Semiconductor, Philips, Solectron, Sun Microsystems, Teradyne, W.L. Gore, and Xilinx. All interested technical representatives of companies that are impacted by the technology advancements were invited to attend.

For technical background and a more detailed update on the working group's progress, please go to www.acextest.org.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare. With 48,000 employees serving customers in more than 120 countries, Agilent had net revenue of $10.8 billion in fiscal year 2000. Information about Agilent can be found on the Web at www.agilent.com.