Allied Telesyn Launches First Multi-Protocol Managed Modular Media Chassis; High Density and Small Physical Size Makes Converteon Ideal for Deployment in FTTH -- Fiber-to-the-Home -- Applications.

BOTHELL, Wash. -- Allied Telesyn, a global provider of secure Ethernet/IP access solutions, today announced the launch of Converteon(TM), an innovative, protocol agnostic managed media converter system designed to facilitate the transport of telecom traffic such as E1/T1, serial communications such as RS232, and traditional Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet from a single platform. Service providers and large businesses with wide-reaching corporate networks can now terminate multiple transport services at a single point, thus reducing management overhead and CAPEX investment.

The Converteon family initially consists of two chassis platforms, the 18-slot CV5000 and the single-slot CV1000. Further platforms are planned, and will be released later in 2005.

The CV5000 is an 18-slot platform, designed for deployment at the center of a star topology network, where it connects over fiber to other Converteon(TM) devices. The 2RU chassis accommodates 18 modular blades, making it the highest port density multi-protocol chassis available on the market today. The requirements of high density and small physically size makes it ideal for deployment in FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home) applications at the Point-of-Presence (POP).

The CV1000 is a single slot platform for use in remote locations, and can be populated with a single Converteon media blade. Both chassis' utilize the same media blades, thus reducing inventory holdings, and simplifying service and installations.

"The Converteon CV5000 platform has been designed with service providers in mind," says Allied Telesyn's Executive Vice President of Marketing and Product Development Philip Yim. "The chassis is designed to support an internal switching matrix module which will allow multiple blades on the chassis to be aggregated using Layer 3 switching functionally."

"Converteon then becomes a single box solution at the POP," adds Yim. "With future media blades offering support for GEPON, a fully populated CV5000 Converteon chassis would be capable of aggregating up to 512 individual users."

To further support FTTH applications, many of the Converteon media blades support IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet-in-the-First-Mile in-band management, allowing a remotely deployed blade to be fully monitored and managed from the Central Office (CO) with a minimum of management overhead.

A CV5000 chassis deployed at the CO is designed to provide maximum network availability, with all media and management modules being hot-swappable. Use of hot-swappable redundant power supplies (both AC and DC) and hot-swappable fan assemblies further enhances resiliency. Enterprise customers, looking to deploy lower cost networks with lower availability demands, can populate single power supplies and management cards.

A wide range of Converteon media blades allows connectivity of copper Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet over either multimode and singlemode fiber optic cables at distances up to 80km. These are available with and without IEEE 802.3ah support, providing connectivity for both service provider and enterprise customers. Non Ethernet-only blades include E1/T1 connectivity, which allows service providers to upgrade an existing E1/T1 fibre circuit, by deploying a Converteon chassis at either end of the fiber link. The link will then be able to carrier both the existing E1/T1 channel and an additional 100BaseTx connection, which could provide a high speed broadband or inter-office connection for the end users and a new revenue stream for the service provider. The E1/T1 card also supports 802.3ah remote management.

For enterprise customers still using legacy RS232-type serial communication based devices, Converteon provides the ability to transparently transport RS232 type traffic over a fibre optic pair.

The Converteon CV5000 chassis, including power supply and management module, has a list price of $1664. The Converteon CV1000 chassis, including power supply, has a list price of $64. Media blades start from $323.

All Converteon products are orderable today, with most cards available for immediate delivery.

For more information on Converteon and other Allied Telesyn products, please call 800-424-4284 or visit Allied Telesyn's website at www.alliedtelesyn.com.

About Allied Telesyn, Inc.

Allied Telesyn was founded in 1987 with the goal of producing reliable, standards-based networking products. Focused on secure Ethernet/IP access solutions, Allied Telesyn offers carrier-class access-edge products including Layer 3 switches, fiber/copper Multiservice Access Platforms, and CPE. We're also a leading global manufacturer of media converters, unmanaged switches, and NICs. Our customer-driven approach has made Allied Telesyn the ideal choice for IT professionals looking for high-quality, feature-rich network solutions at a lower price.