Anticipated Fujitsu FLASH2400 ADX Begins Shipment.

Business Editors

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 2001

Powerful Next-Generation Multiplexer Offers the Industry's Lowest

Space and Power Use, Largest Switch Fabric, Most OC-48 Drops

Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc., today announced the FLASH(TM)2400 ADX, a next-generation SONET add/drop multiplexer that packs the industry's highest OC-48 drop capacity into a space-saving design is now shipping to customers.

"The FLASH2400 ADX is truly one of the most eagerly anticipated next-generation systems in the industry," said Ron Martin, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Fujitsu Network Communications. "Our customers are telling us that they see the benefit of using systems designed for today's and tomorrow's networks because they can future proof their network investments."

The compact FLASH2400 ADX provides a data-ready platform, upgradable from OC-48 (2.5 Gbps) to OC-192 (10 Gbps), and is the industry's first SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) network element to support DS3 tributary drops from an OC-192 line signal. It delivers support for six OC-48s, with full drop, in a single seven-foot rack. A universal interface slot approach supports up to eight OC-48 unidirectional path switched rings (UPSRs) or two 2 fiber bi-directional line switched rings (BLSR) in a single shelf.

The system's industry-leading density gives back valuable central office space to local exchange carriers (LECs) or co-located competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). Power requirements are a nominal 400 watts. Its upgradable switching fabric and line optics allows the FLASH2400 ADX to scale in system capacity and capabilities to meet changing network requirements. The FLASH2400 ADX supports the broadest range of integrated tunable narrowband OC-48 or OC-192 optics for dense wavelength division multiplexing applications.

The FLASH2400 ADX has an 864x864 STS-1 cross-connect switching matrix, for true any port-to-any-port connectivity, and a data-ready switching fabric. All its optical interfaces are SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, the global standard) and SONET compatible. It features DS3 to OC-192 interface rates, with unrestricted mix-and-match OC-3/12/48 integrated or subtending rings. All configurations are supported from a single shelf: terminal/linear ADM, two-fiber and four-fiber bi-directional line switched ring (BLSR), and UPSR. Direct data interfaces such as 10/100 Base-T and Gigabit Ethernet will be added in a subsequent release.

The FLASH ADX Family of Products

Designed for interoffice and long-haul transport, the FLASH2400 ADX is the latest member in a family of next-generation multiservice products that follow Fujitsu's venerable FLM SONET line of multiplexers. Each member of the product family, which also includes the FLASH600 ADX and FLASH150 ADX, is optimized to deliver benefits that are unique for specific areas of a customer's network. All three products work as a cohesive element to help carriers' reduce network complexity and migrate single-purpose, overlay networks into a converged network that maximizes carriers' available bandwidth. Powerful next-generation SONET features such as subtending rings and advanced broadband and wideband switching fabrics give the FLASH ADX family the ability to replace racks of equipment with single shelves for unprecedented grooming capabilities. Integrated multiservice features enable the simultaneous transport of traditional SONET traffic, IP (Internet Protocol), local area network, and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) data traffic -- or any combination -- over this converged fiber-optic network.

About Fujitsu Network Communications

Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc., a leader in intelligent optical transport networking equipment, designs and manufactures fiber-optic transmission and broadband switching platforms. FNC develops software enabling customers to perform in-service management and monitoring of the telephone network, and provides network design, installation, and maintenance services. Customers include local exchange carriers, interexchange carriers, competitive access providers, cable TV operators, as well as large private networks in North America. Fujitsu Network Communications is part of Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702), a $50 billion leading provider of comprehensive information technology and networking solutions for the global marketplace.

Product information is available by calling 800-777-FAST or via the Internet at www.fnc.fujitsu.com.

FLASH(TM) and FLASHWAVE(TM) are a trademarks of Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc.