Brooktree low-cost T1/E1 provisioning technology being adopted by leading international telecommunications equipment suppliers; Growing popularity of Brooktree High Bit Rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) chipset is helping to establish a proven, interoperable hardware platform for quickly and efficiently deploying T1/E1 leased lines, primary rate ISDN lines and voice pair gain equipment.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 1995--Brooktree Corp. Tuesday announced that its High Bit Rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) chipset, which dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of deploying leased T1/E1 and primary-rate ISDN lines, has been adopted for integration into equipment from more than 20 of the world's leading telecommunications equipment suppliers serving the European, Asian and South American markets.

Each of these international markets is very quickly adopting HDSL technology, which has rapidly proliferated since its 1992 debut in the U.S. and is now used to deploy an estimated 60 percent of all U.S.-based T1 lines.

Since then, HDSL technology has been extended to the provisioning of E1 leased lines, primary rate ISDN lines and voice pair gain equipment, and is expected to make an even more rapid entry into international markets where the advent of a widely adopted hardware platform can yield significant benefits in terms of multi-vendor interoperability.

During the past 12 months, Brooktree's HDSL chipset (which was introduced in 1993 and is currently in volume production) has been integrated into HDSL systems from vendors including: ECI Telecom, Ericsson New Zealand, Ericsson Schrack, General DataComm, JNA Telecommunications, Orckit Communications, Philips Kommunikations Industrie, Raychem Corporation, Tellabs Operations, Telspec, and Westell International. Brooktree's HDSL chipset will enable these companies to provide equipment that fully conforms to applicable European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) transmission standards.

"With so many manufacturers now using the same HDSL chipset, the prospect for multivendor interoperability is very strong," said Ron Cates, senior product manager at Brooktree.

"Several European Post Telephone & Telegraph--or PTT--carriers have identified vendor equipment interoperability as being very desirable, since it allows central office line cards and remote equipment to be mixed and matched," Cates added. "This gives the telecommunications service provider added flexibility in terms of when and what is purchased. In addition, such interoperability can catalyze the creation of an HDSL-tariffed interface, which can lead the way to native HDSL interfaces in customer premises equipment."

HDSL Now Proven In U.S.; Worldwide Usage Explosion Expected

Industry observers expect that HDSL technology will be used in nearly 70 percent of all T1 lines deployed in the U.S. by the end of 1996, with an even more rapid roll-out anticipated in Europe and elsewhere starting this year. HDSL technology also is emerging in systems intended for the provisioning of partial T1 or E1 service. It is applicable anywhere that high data rate signals need to be transmitted over voice-grade twisted-pair wire, including voice pair gain equipment, PCS radio-port-to-radio-port controller links, and private high-speed digital circuits in campus environments. All of these applications can benefit from the interoperability advantages of a common hardware platform.

HDSL technology grew out of research done by Bellcore, the R&D branch of the Regional Bell Operating Companies. This research was aimed at leveraging VLSI and DSP technology to simplify and cut the costs of deploying T1 lines, which are the ubiquitous American four-wire standard for delivering 1.544 Mb/s data transmission over copper wire in the "local loop" between the Central Office and the end-user. While T1 provisioning previously required that repeaters be installed every three to six thousand feet, HDSL technology enables T1 service provisioning simply by installing a specialized HDSL modem at either end of that loop. HDSL can achieve up to 2.320 Mb/s transmission capability over long distances (up to 4.5 km or 14,850 feet depending on desired data rate, cable conditions and configurations, the presence and length of bridge taps, and the severity of external noise sources) of unconditioned, voice-grade twisted pair wire.

An additional benefit of HDSL technology is its ability to provision T1 service without disturbing--or being disturbed by--existing services, loops with multiple wire gauges, or bridged taps in the same wire bundle. As a result, HDSL techniques allow the service provider, such as an RBOC or PTT, to quickly and cost-effectively expand the available bandwidth of the existing copper infrastructure and preserve the investment in that infrastructure, while at the same time installing next-generation fiber facilities where they make the most sense.

After early adoption in the U.S., HDSL technology took on a significant international flavor. The ETSI has drafted a comprehensive set of specifications for HDSL equipment which is deployed outside of the U.S. and uses the E1 transmission standard. Similar to T1 in the U.S., the E1 transmission standard is used in Europe, Asia and parts of South America for providing 2.048 Mb/s leased line and primary rate ISDN service.

"Now that HDSL technology has proved itself in the American local loop, I feel confident that PTTs and telcos worldwide will discover how easy and profitable it is to deploy," said Jerry Greenen, senior product manager at Tellabs Operations, Bolingbrook, Ill.

"We are happy about the level of support and commitment that Brooktree has demonstrated to the advancement of HDSL technology," said Schmuel Ber, vice president of logistics at ECI Telecom. "This technology will allow PTTs and telcos worldwide to lower the cost of deploying E1 transmission equipment and will catalyze the European Information Super Highway."

Brooktree Corp. designs and markets high-performance digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits for computer graphics, multimedia and communications applications. The company, with headquarters in San Diego, employs more than 590 people worldwide. Brooktree stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol BTRE.

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