California Microwave to Demonstrate Wireless High-speed, Internet-optimized Access Equipment At CTIA Wireless '99.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 1999--CALIFORNIA MICROWAVE, INC. (Nasdaq National Market: CMIC) announced today that its Adaptive Broadband(TM) Limited subsidiary (Adaptive) will demonstrate its initial product, AB-Access(TM), in booth No. 3633 at the CTIA Wireless '99 industry trade show in New Orleans, LA, February 8-10.

This is the first public demonstration in the U.S. of the leading-edge high-speed Internet access gear. The patent-pending, Adaptive Broadband Packet-On-Demand(TM) technology is at the core of the AB-Access system offering higher data speeds (up to 25 Mbps) and superior bandwidth management than competitive alternatives due to its highly granular handling of data. Utilizing the technology, telecommunications service providers are able to sell more access with the same given capacity and at the same time, can offer their customers higher data rates than other alternatives--wireline or wireless. California Microwave has already announced that two top-10 U.S. telephone carriers have signed contracts to field trial the equipment as California Microwave moves closer to the pilot launch set for this Spring.

Live Packet-On-Demand(TM) Technology At Work

As previously announced by California Microwave, leading telecommunications providers are currently deploying AB-Access field-trial units in preparation for Adaptive's pilot launch expected this Spring. CTIA Wireless '99 attendees will see the field-trial units first hand. During the demonstration, attendees will witness simultaneous video conferencing, full-motion streaming video and high-speed Internet access over a single connection, at speeds faster than wireline networks. "Our point-to-multipoint, packet-on-demand technology provides a win-win situation for service providers and their customers," commented Dr. Daniel L. Scharre, California Microwave's chief technology officer and Adaptive's chief executive officer. "Service providers will be able to sell more access with a given capacity and at the same time, their customers will benefit from high-speed links to the Internet that are orders of magnitude faster than current wireline solutions used for "last-mile" access. The key is maximizing bandwidth use. Bandwidth is a precious resource and you can never have too much. The CTIA Wireless '99 industry trade show is a great venue for CTIA attendees and other potential key telecommunications partners to see the system first hand."

AB-Access Minimizes Equipment Cost and Efficiently Allocates Bandwidth

The key to enabling broadband access to a large number of users using wireless technologies is efficiently utilizing available frequency spectrum and minimizing the hardware cost per user. Today, wireless technologies are widely used for circuit-based, high-bandwidth, point-to-point connections to individual locations. These connections make sense when a consistent, high capacity connection is required, but can be prohibitively expensive for applications that require only occasional high capacity. For example, Internet users tend to have "bursty," or intermittent traffic demands, and having a dedicated channel or a point-to-point wireless link results in substantial unused capacity during periods when data is not being transmitted.

To solve the problem of unused capacity, dedicated circuit-based connections must be replaced with on-demand, packet based connections that enable users to consume only as much system bandwidth as is required at any given time. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology can be used to enable several users to share a single channel on a point-to-multipoint basis, which efficiently allocates bandwidth to end-users and minimizes the hardware costs involved. While TDMA capability is necessary, it is not sufficient for cost-effective delivery of bursty traffic. The system must also have the capability to intelligently handle Internet Protocol packets and Asynchronous Transfer Mode cells on a packet-by-packet or cell-by-cell basis, as provided by the AB-Access solution.

AB-Access Supports Ten-fold Increase in Users

AB-Access is a point-to-multipoint, packet-on-demand technology that allows network users to simultaneously share the available frequency spectrum using the most efficient bandwidth management system available today. Further, it is estimated that typical Internet connections use the maximum available capacity 10% of the time, at best. The packet-on-demand approach of AB-Access enables support of more than ten times as many users as existing circuit-based access techniques due to its capability of interleaving many different users within a single channel and providing bandwidth, on a packet-by-packet basis, only as needed. This capability also facilitates charging end users only for the service they require, thereby reducing the cost of service offered with the product.

Adaptive's first release of AB-Access is for applications that use the 5 GHz "Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure" (U-NII) frequency band. Because of its unlicensed nature, there is no cost to operate within this band, and not having to seek licensing from the FCC greatly improves time-to-market. Additionally, providers can choose to target selected geographic areas in which to offer service or roll-out an entire network nationwide. Future releases will support wireless infrastructure deployments worldwide using frequencies up to 42 GHz. According to a market research report by Pioneer Consulting, the U.S. business market for local multipoint data services will grow to $6.5 billion by 2007.

About California Microwave, Inc.

California Microwave, Inc. (http://www.calmike.com) is a leading U.S. supplier of satellite earth station and microwave radio infrastructure products and information and collection systems. Its focus is on transmission of high-speed data, especially for Internet traffic, via satellite and terrestrial wireless communications. More information on its Adaptive Broadband AB-Access solution can be found at www.adaptivebroadband.com.