Madge ATM Switch Wins Award for Product Excellence; Collage 740 Ranks At or Near the Top in All CommunicationsWeek Competitive Tests.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 7, 1996--In a comprehensive battery of tests designed to measure the overall efficiency of competing Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) backbone switches, Madge Networks' Collage(tm) 740 ATM switch ranked at or near the top in each test, participating with products from seven other vendors. In test results published in the August 26, 1996 issue of CommunicationsWeek, Madge's Collage 740 turned in impressive numbers against other vendors in the ATM network infrastructure market, including Cisco Systems, FORE Systems and IBM Corp. As a result, the Madge(tm) Collage 740 earned the magazine's Max Award for product excellence.

Test Methodology

The Tolly Group, an independent testing and industry analysis organization based in Manasquan, New Jersey, designed and conducted the tests on behalf of CommunicationsWeek. Thirteen ATM switch vendors were invited to submit their products for competitive evaluation. Of these, eight -- including Cabletron, Cascade, Cisco, FORE, Fujitsu, IBM, Madge and Newbridge -- chose to participate. The Tolly Group designed a suite of tests to evaluate performance and stress handling capabilities. Test traffic was generated and its effects evaluated by an ATM analyzer.

Test Results

- Latency vs. switch load -- Latency is the delay introduced by devices between a transmission's source and destination. This test measured the times required to transmit and receive ATM cells across a single permanent virtual circuit. Madge's Collage 740 beat all participants, exhibiting the lowest recorded latency rates (less than 20 microseconds).

- Jitter vs. switch load -- Jitter is the variation in a constant bit rate transmission forwarded by a switch. High jitter rates are detrimental to real-time applications, such as voice or video. Madge's Collage 740, along with three competitors, delivered the lowest recorded jitter rates.

- Cell buffering -- When ATM is used as the infrastructure to connect legacy LAN applications, ATM switches are forced to store, or "buffer," excess cells until bandwidth is available on the LAN. The more cells the switch can buffer, the faster traffic is able to reach its destination when bandwidth does become available. Madge's Collage 740 was among the top three performers in this test.

- Latency and jitter vs. burst -- These tests measured ATM switches' ability to handle periods of high network and bandwidth utilization. Madge's Collage 740, again, tested among the leaders in this category, withstanding the highest levels the test could generate with no cell loss. According to the publication, "...Madge switches not only provide excellent latency, but superior buffering, too." The Collage 740 exhibited similar high performance in jitter vs. burst tests.

In summary, the article says, "Aside from being a mighty cell bufferer, Madge's Collage 740 also offered a wide variety of features and functions, especially at the management level."

About the Madge Collage 740 Backbone ATM Switch

The Madge Collage 740 Backbone ATM switch is a high-performance 16-port 155 Mbps non-blocking ATM switch for building and campus backbone applications. It incorporates Madge Cellrunner switching technology, which provides exceptional performance under high traffic loads and makes the switch ready to carry advanced multimedia traffic. The Collage 740 supports LAN Emulation (LANE) for both Ethernet and Token Ring networks with a full suite of Windows and UNIX-based network management tools. Collage 740 pricing begins at U.S. $13,495 and is available now.

About Madge Networks

Madge Networks (NASDAQ:MADGF) is a leading worldwide supplier of end-to-end switched networking solutions for large enterprises, with a special focus on multiservice networking, i.e., networks which will be able to support integrated data, voice and video. The company, an originator of ATM, Ethernet, ISDN and Token Ring technology, offers a range of products from desktop connections through LAN and WAN switches and enterprise network management software. Madge is recognized for its customer support without limits, technology excellence and end-to-end networking expertise. It serves its multinational customer base in more than 20 countries worldwide from five major business centers located in Hong Kong, London, San Jose, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. -0-

Note to Editors: Madge, the Madge logo, Collage and Cellrunner are trademarks, and in some jurisdictions may be registered trademarks of Madge Networks, or its affiliated companies. All other trademarks appearing in this document are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Madge Networks

Teresa Camera, 408/952-9418

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Bill Jeppesen, 408/952-9014

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