Alvesta and Cypress Announce QuadLink 10-Gigabit Optical Multi-Source Agreement; Assures Availability and Compatibility for Advanced Optical Networking Applications.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2002

Alvesta, a privately-held provider of optical communications products to high-end telecom, datacom, and storage systems companies, and Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE:CY) today announced the QuadLink(TM) MSA, a Multi-Source Agreement based on four-channel parallel optic transceivers.

QuadLink is the first parallel optics MSA optimized for 10-gigabit operation across multiple industry standards, including Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) for SONET/SDH, InfiniBand(TM), and the emerging 10 Gigabit Fibre Channel specification.

"Four-channel parallel transceivers are the most cost-effective optical solution for 10-gigabit applications," said Dan Morris, Vice President of Cypress's WAN and Storage Network divisions. "Optics is the wave of the future; therefore, we have developed parallel optical interconnect products, leveraging the capabilities of Cypress and our subsidiary Silicon Light Machines. Signing this MSA demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with very-short range optical solutions."

The QuadLink MSA is based on an innovative four-channel, full-duplex optical transceiver architecture. Both companies intend to manufacture MSA-compliant optical transceivers. Additionally, the MSA is openly structured to enable additional optics vendors to manufacture compatible products. Fully compatible optics from multiple vendors provide optical system manufacturers with improved continuity of supply and associated risk reduction.

"Alvesta created the four-channel parallel optics segment with the mid-2000 introduction of our Model 3100 transceiver," stated Dubravko Babic, Alvesta chief technology officer. "The QuadLink MSA provides a major benefit to customers by extending sourcing of completely compatible parallel optics to two high-volume manufacturers."

Industry standards supported by the QuadLink MSA include OIF-VSR4-03.0 for OC-48 SONET/SDH channel aggregation, IB-4X-SX for InfiniBand architecture quad optical links, and 1200-M5-SN4P-I for 10 Gigabit Fibre Channel VSR optics as included in the current 10 GFC NCITS working draft. The QuadLink MSA leverages the broad availability of electronic components optimized for four-channel operation. Specifically, the MSA is compatible with SERDES and integrated switch silicon from a number of leading semiconductor manufacturers. Compatible products include quad and octal SONET/SDH SERDES and integrated switches supporting 4 x 2.488 Gbps (Gigabits per second) data transfer, quad InfiniBand SERDES and 4x integrated switches operating at 4 x 2.5 Gbps, and four channel XAUI SERDES for 10-gigabit Ethernet or 10-gigabit Fibre Channel applications operating at 4 x 3.125 or 4 x 3.1875 Gbps respectively.

The MSA footprint of 542 mm2 is the smallest in the industry for 10-Gbps serial or parallel optics, taking 35% less board space than the next smallest solution. Field replaceable mounting, as well as solder attachment is supported. A standardized management interface is also provided. The MSA technical specification is available from the Alvesta and Cypress websites at http://www.alvesta.com/QuadLink and http://www.cypress.com/aboutus/QuadLinkTechnical_1_0.PDF.

About Cypress

Cypress Semiconductor is "Driving the Communications Revolution"(TM) with high-performance integrated circuits for network infrastructure and access equipment. Leveraging its process and system-level expertise, the company designs and manufactures solutions targeted across wireless and wireline communications. Cypress supports a wide range of industry standards, such as SONET (OC-48 and above), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), InfiniBand(TM) and Gigabit Ethernet. The company's communications product lines include programmable high-speed physical layer devices (PHYs), wirespeed network search engines (NSEs) and network coprocessors (NCPs), and datapath switching elements (DSEs). Cypress is also the industry's leader in communications timing solutions, networking-optimized communications memories and personal connectivity solutions, such as USB and Bluetooth.

Cypress is a leader in pure optical and optoelectronic technologies designed to push network transmissions to higher performance levels and to satisfy the increasing demand for network bandwidth. With a focus on emerging communications applications, Cypress aims to become the preferred silicon supplier for network infrastructure solutions and for every network data stream to pass through at least one Cypress IC.

Cypress employs 4,000 people worldwide. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CY. More information about Cypress is accessible on the Web at http://www.cypress.com/.

About Alvesta

Alvesta designs and manufactures optical technology for telecommunications, data communications, and storage infrastructure equipment. Alvesta's products enable cost-effective bandwidth transport for central office, enterprise data center, and storage area networks. Based on a highly manufacturable and scalable 10 Gigabit-per-second parallel optics module, Alvesta's products accelerate the transition from electrical to optical communication for IP/SONET/SDH, InfiniBand, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and next-generation Fibre Channel systems.

Founded in April 1999, Alvesta Corporation is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA and is privately held. Key financial backers include Enterprise Partners, Intel Corporation, Quantum Technology Ventures, Cypress Semiconductor, and Hamarex Holdings Ltd. For more information, visit http://www.alvesta.com.

About Silicon Light Machines

Founded in 1994, Silicon Light Machines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor. Silicon Light Machines' Grating Light Valve(TM) (GLV(TM)) technology is a means for creating a high-performance spatial light modulator on the surface of a silicon chip. The company is located at 385 Moffett Park Dr., Suite 115, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1208; telephone [phone]; fax [phone]. For more information about Silicon Light Machines, visit the company's Web address at http://www.siliconlight.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements herein that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" involving risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: the effect of global economic conditions, shifts in supply and demand, market acceptance, the impact of competitive products and pricing, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and capacity and supply constraints. Please refer to Cypress's Securities and Exchange Commission filings for a discussion of such risks.

Note to Editors: QuadLink and "Driving the Communications Revolution" are trademarks of Cypress Semiconductor. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.