Cascade announces most comprehensive ATM migration offerings for enterprise and public carrier networks.

WESTFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 1995--Cascade Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: CSCC) today announced a series of first-to-market ATM migration solutions for enterprise and public carrier networks that facilitate economical, standards-compliant network migration to ATM.

Cascade announced the industry's first implementation of Frame Relay-to-ATM Service Interworking (ratified on March 27, 1995) and Frame Relay-to-ATM Network Interworking (ratified on Dec. 20, 1994), two significant ATM migration standards jointly developed by The Frame Relay and ATM Forums. This milestone establishes Cascade as the only wide area network switch vendor to offer a comprehensive, standards-compliant means for connecting frame relay network devices, such as routers and FRADs (Frame Relay Access Devices), to high-speed ATM services. These standards enable business' critical enterprise networks and public carriers to gain the benefits of ATM, while preserving their investments in earlier generations of technology.

Cascade also announced shipment of an ATM DXI (Data eXchange Interface Protocol) software module, further establishing Cascade as the first wide area switch vendor to deliver a comprehensive, standards-compliant ATM access solution. A frame-based protocol, ATM DXI provides economical access to ATM for end-user devices, such as PCs and workstations, and network access devices, such as routers and FRADs, thereby eliminating the cost barriers to ATM enterprise deployment.

"Cascade's leadership in frame relay and ATM standards- compliance, combined with its strengths in enabling highly scalable, multiservice, production-level networks meet the concerns of businesses and public carriers seeking to implement cost-efficient ATM solutions," said Tom Nolle, president, CIMI Corp.

ATM Interworking: An investment protection path for ATM

migration

ATM Network and Service Interworking enables companies to share data and other important resources throughout the enterprise while maintaining cost efficiency by adopting ATM in phases. ATM Network Interworking enables two frame relay devices or networks to communicate via an ATM service; ATM Service Interworking enables a frame relay user device to connect to an ATM user device over a wide area network.

Companies can economically deploy frame relay at branch office locations, without concern of the technology's future obsolescence, by ensuring their full access to resources on a corporate ATM network. Public carriers can also offer customers a cost-effective means of integrating frame relay sites and ATM sites.

"Service interworking will allow customers to choose the most appropriate technology on a location-by-location basis," said Liza Henderson, manager of broadband services for WilTel. "The public network will provide the protocol translations to enable seamless communications between locations employing different technologies."

ATM DXI software module eliminates cost barriers to enterprise

ATM migration

Optimized for data-oriented traffic, Cascade's new ATM DXI software module for the B-STDX 8000 and B-STDX 9000 multiservice WAN switches provides companies with an economical means to extend ATM services to remote offices. ATM DXI eliminates the need for expensive ATM interfaces by providing a frame-based UNI (User-to-Network Interface) to a Cascade ATM Network. This provides end-to-end interoperability between non-ATM routers and other equipment and enables ATM services at 56 Kbps to 45 Mbps.

A major benefit to enterprise network users and public carriers is Cascade's ATM DXI on-demand implementation capability. Through the CascadeView network management system, ATM DXI services can easily be provisioned by dynamically configuring ports. This eliminates the need to physically go to a switch to provision services.

"Our customers' business depends on the reliability, scalability, economics, and preservation of earlier technology investments," said Bob Machlin, Cascade's vice president of marketing. "As we have done in the frame relay market, Cascade is committed to providing end-users and service providers with comprehensive ATM solutions that go beyond pilot and workgroup applications. Our focus is to fulfill the diverse production-level requirements of our customers' mission critical networks. We are proud to be first in the industry to deliver standards-compliant, economical ATM migration solutions that make sense for customers today."

Pricing/Availability

Shipping now, the ATM DXI software-module provides 140 ATM connections per switch and is U.S. priced at $15,000. The module is fully integrated into the Cascade B-STDX multiservice switch family, the industry's first switching platform that simultaneously supports frame relay, SMDS and ATM services on a single platform.

Cascade's ATM Interworking capabilities are software-intensive capabilities currently built-in to the B-STDX family of switches as a standard component for customers to meet their ATM migration requirements.

Customers interested in learning more should contact Cascade Communications' headquarters at 1-800-DIAL-WAN or 508-692-2600. European customers should contact Cascade Communications Ltd. at 44-0-784-434377.

The world's fastest growing data communications company and price/performance leader in frame relay, Cascade Communications (NASDAQ: CSCC) of Westford, Mass. is a global developer and supplier of wide area networking products for the enterprise and public carrier network markets. The pioneer of multiservice WAN switches, Cascade is uniquely positioned to deliver enterprise-ready switches and network management solutions that enable customers to seamlessly integrate existing technologies with emerging ATM technology. Cascade multiservice switches offer the highest port density in the industry, sophisticated software provisioned to facilitate ATM migration, and the first platform to offer users a choice of WAN services for cost-effective network expansion and investment protection. Worldwide, private and public networks such as Bank One, Bell South, Bridge Communications, GTE, U.S. West, WilTel, and British Telecom rely on Cascade products for unparalleled quality of service and high-performance WAN services.

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Note: B-STDX, STDX, CascadeView, and The Cascade Logo are trademarks of Cascade Communications Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

CONTACT: Neva Group Inc.,

Maureen Liberty/Marijean Lauzier, 617/441-4000 x231

or

Cascade Communications Corp.

Bob Machlin, 508/692-2600