Conexant Unveils Industry's First Turnkey Solution Enabling Manufacturers to Package Cable Modems Inside Personal Computers.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2000

Design Innovation Gains Support From Industry Leaders Including

Dell Computer and Time Warner

Conexant Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CNXT) Wednesday introduced the industry's first complete cable-modem reference design that will allow PC manufacturers to install cable modems directly into personal computers.

Aimed at reducing the cost and complexity of deploying cable modem technology, this design breakthrough will help foster mainstream adoption by making cable modems a bundled PC feature rather than requiring delivery and installation by cable service providers.

Conexant's PCI-based solution will enable PC manufacturers to bring turnkey broadband access -- and offer Internet connections at speeds up to 1,000 times faster than today's fastest dial-up modems -- to business and home users. The industry's first cable modems using Conexant's peripheral component interconnect (PCI) reference design were recently certified by Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs(R)), a cable industry consortium.

"Time Warner believes that the approach of integrating cable modems directly inside subscribers' PCs will allow cable operators to more rapidly deploy and provide services," said Doug Semon, principal Internet systems architect for Time Warner. "It certainly will reduce the complexity of cable-modem installation by eliminating the need for installing network interface cards in the field."

"This is the natural evolution -- to move the cable modem inside the PC, just like a dial-up modem," said Nick Sargologos, product marketing manager for broadband products for Dell. "We applaud industry initiatives like this that will make it easier to deliver this technology to Dell customers."

Conexant's InfoSurge(TM) CX9440CM cable-modem reference design provides manufacturers with all the necessary hardware, software and documentation to create a complete cable modem product. The reference design is the first of its kind to use a PCI interface, which enables PC OEMs to attach their cable modem products directly to the PC's internal PCI bus.

At the heart of the reference design is Conexant's CN9414 single-chip programmable cable modem device, which offers the industry's highest level of integration, as well as unmatched flexibility to meet worldwide cable modem standards. Customers for the CN9414 include Zoom Telephonics and GVC Corp., which announced last week that they are using the CN9414 in the industry's first PCI cable modem products to receive certification from CableLabs.

"The InfoSurge PCI reference design is an industry first that will enable cable modems to take the same path that today's ubiquitous analog modems have -- as a cost-effective, bundled feature of mainstream PCs," said Dan Marotta, vice president and general manager for Conexant's Digital Infotainment Division.

"Conexant's design reduces development risk and time-to-market schedules for PC OEMs and modem manufacturers, and gives multi-service operators a low-cost solution that can be sold through broader retail channels with significantly less provisioning complexity than external modems," Marotta added.

"Cable modems must migrate inside the box in order to provide the price points and convenience that consumers have come to expect, and we believe that our long-standing relationships with the world's leading PC OEMs can help serve as the catalyst for making this happen."

Technical Details

The reference design includes all the necessary CableLabs- certified silicon and software for creating a complete subscriber modem that PC manufacturers can integrate directly into their systems, rather than requiring service operators to deliver and install a modem board at the customer premises and perform other complex on-site integration tasks.

The CX9440CM PCI reference design also includes a comprehensive suite of drivers, applications and operating system codes, and is the first to include key application software above the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) stack for such critical cable-modem functions as registration, authentication and software downloading.

This software is proven to meet Data Over Cable Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 1.0 requirements established by CableLabs. Until now, cable-modem manufacturers either had to develop application software or use software from multiple sources to create a total solution. Rounding out the design is the ready-to-manufacture cable-modem board, plus all of the schematics, board lay-out files, documentation and input/output port cables for a complete subscriber cable-modem product.

The CX9440CM PCI reference design incorporates Conexant's CN9414 single-chip cable modem, the only solution to include an embedded microprocessor-based programmable media access controller (MAC) layer with an Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) processor.

This architecture provides cable modem manufacturers and PC OEMs the ability to software upgrade their platforms to customized feature sets, support new standards or migrate to future capabilities such as Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and home networking.

Manufacturers can program the MAC to meet widely used standards established by EuroDOCSIS, Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) and Digital AudioVisual Council (DAVIC) organizations. This programmable feature also gives multi-service operators unprecedented flexibility to software-upgrade their platforms to customize feature sets or to support new standards updates via software downloads, eliminating the need for truck roles or equipment obsolescence.

Conexant's CX9440CM is available immediately and is priced starting at $50,000.

About Conexant's Digital Infotainment Division

Conexant's Digital Infotainment Division is a leading provider of semiconductor systems for broadband and broadcast communications applications. Addressing the convergence of PCs with consumer entertainment products, the division's broad portfolio includes cable and wireless modems, IP telephony products, digital set-top boxes and digital broadcast and video solutions for personal computing appliances.

About Conexant Systems

With a revenue run-rate of approximately $2 billion per year, Conexant is the world's largest independent company focused exclusively on providing semiconductor solutions for communications electronics.

With more than 30 years of experience in developing communications technology, the company draws upon its expertise in mixed-signal processing to deliver integrated systems and semiconductor products for a broad range of communications applications.

These products facilitate communications worldwide through wireline voice and data communications networks, cordless and cellular wireless telephony systems, personal imaging devices and equipment, and emerging cable and wireless broadband communications networks.

The company aligns its business into five product platforms: Network Access, Wireless Communications, Digital Infotainment, Personal Imaging and Personal Computing. Conexant is a member of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 Indices. For more information, visit Conexant at www.conexant.com.

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