Microcom and Rockwell launch joint development center to deliver highest throughput 56 Kbps technology.NORWOOD, Mass., NEWPORT BEACH Newport Beach, residential and resort city (1990 pop. 66,643), Orange co., S Calif., on Newport Bay and the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1906. It is a popular seaside resort and yachting center. Manufactures include electrical and medical equipment, computers, boats, and adhesives. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 1996-- Rockwell opens East Coast development center initially located at Microcom as facilities to ensure maximum advancement of K56Plus technology Microcom Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :MNPI MNPI Material Non-Public Information (securities trading) MNPI Maternal and Neonatal Program Index ) and Rockwell Semiconductor Systems (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ROK) on Thursday announced a joint development agreement to deliver enhanced Rockwell K56Plus technology for central site and remote modem applications. This enhanced K56Plus solution combines Microcom's carrier-certified MODEMWARE, Microcom's intelligent modem A modem that responds to commands and can accept new instructions during online transmission. It was originally developed by Hayes. and network interface technology, with Rockwell's new K56Plus DSP (1) (Digital Signal Processor) A special-purpose CPU used for digital signal processing applications (see definition #2 below). It provides ultra-fast instruction sequences, such as shift and add, and multiply and add, which are commonly used in math-intensive technology. To ensure the success of this joint development and a timely introduction of the technology to the marketplace, and to promote continued technology innovation between the two companies, Rockwell is opening an East Coast development center initially located at Microcom's headquarters in Norwood. The development center will be staffed with Rockwell engineers working side by side with Microcom engineers. As part of the partnership, Rockwell and Microcom are working together to develop and drive the standardization of a new high speed modem protocol, MNP (Microcom Networking Protocol) A family of communications protocols from Microcom, Inc., Norwood, MA, that have become de facto standards for error correction (classes 2 through 4) and data compression (class 5). In 1997, Compaq acquired Microcom. 56 (Microcom Networking Protocol Microcom Networking Protocol - (MNP) One of the most common modem protocols with compression. Also the name of a product. ). Rockwell will also reference sell Microcom's MODEMWARE to those Rockwell customers who require Microcom's MODEMWARE enhanced features and functionality for their applications, such as those deployed today on the Internet and corporate intranets. Armando Geday, vice president and general manager of Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, said, "What makes this partnership unique is that Microcom has the ability to enhance Rockwell's K56Plus solution for mission-critical, central site applications such as for the Internet and intranet. In the initial phase of the K56Plus implementation, Microcom is designated as one of the first non-Rockwell sites for testing and development of the technology." The Plan Microcom's K56Plus implementation plan is to leverage the Rockwell partnership to benefit the company's own central site solutions, such as the Microcom Access Integrator and ISPorte, and the solutions of its central site partners: Cisco Systems “Cisco” redirects here. For other uses, see Cisco (disambiguation). Cisco System,Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO, HKSE: 4333 ) is an American multinational corporation with 54,000 employees and annual revenue of US $28.48 billion as of 2006. , DIGITAL, Bay Networks and Gandalf. By propagating the central site space, Microcom, with MNP 56 and MODEMWARE, emerges as a key player in the central site market and a market share leading provider of K56Plus technology. Microcom also plans to extend the K56Plus solution to the company's remote modem products and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and partners' products, such as the recently announced DeskPorte, TravelCard and ISPorte for DIGITAL. "Our proven 10-year relationship with Microcom -- as demonstrated by such efforts as our joint marketing of Microcom modem protocols, including MNP 2-4, MNP 5, MNP 10 and MNP 10EC -- speaks for itself," Geday added. "We feel their technology expertise is critical to the success of our K56Plus implementation strategy, and for this reason, we are establishing a development center initially located at Microcom's headquarters to expedite the effective delivery of K56Plus." "As a leading access server vendor, Cisco endorses the efforts of Microcom and Rockwell in the delivery of open 56Kbps solutions to the majority of the market equipped with Rockwell chip based modems," said Kevin Kennedy Kevin Kennedy may refer to:
"If the ITU-T See ITU. ITU-T - International Telecommunications Union standardization process holds true to form, we don't expect to see a 56 Kbps standard until early 1998," said Lewis Bergins, executive vice president and manager of the modulation business unit at Microcom. "As a result, the 56 Kbps solutions rolled out over the next 18 months will be proprietary. As a provider of central site equipment, it is important for Microcom to provide a 56 Kbps solution that will connect to as many brands of remote modems as possible, perpetuating the most open solution possible. It makes sense for Microcom to choose Rockwell's K56Plus technology when you consider that over 50 percent of worldwide remote modems sold annually are Rockwell chip-based." Bergins added: "Because of the anticipated impact of 56 Kbps and our extensive history with Rockwell, it is important to take this relationship to a new level. This new joint development, combined with our OEM central site partnerships, will contribute to significant growth of Microcom and Rockwell's share of the central site market." "It is vitally important for DIGITAL as a market leader to deliver 56 Kbps options as part of our remote access server solutions to customers in a timely and cost-effective manner," said Bill Burger Bill Burger (born 1958) is Vice President of Marketing at the Copyright Clearance Center, the world's leading provider of content licensing solutions for corporations, colleges and universities and former journalist. , internetworking business manager for DIGITAL's Network Product Business. "With Microcom as both a K56Plus development center and the developer of MODEMWARE in the ISPorte for DIGITAL and our DEC Server products, we will leverage our partnership to provide our users with the solution to meet their connectivity needs." Geday added: "In addition to Rockwell's strong position in the remote modem market, Rockwell also supplies the central site chip sets to manufacturers who provide almost 70 percent of the central site access ports sold over the past two years, as reported by Dataquest. Microcom's longtime central site customers and OEM partners, position them as a key partner in growing Rockwell's K56Plus market share in central site products." Microcom provides high density modem cards for remote access products offered by Cisco Systems, Bay Networks, DIGITAL and Gandalf. "Gandalf has had great success delivering V.34 modem technology to customers in a superior, chassis-based central site solution with Xpressway," said Michael Chawner, vice president of product operations and chief technology officer for Gandalf. "Our commitment to offering customers the latest technology and broadest choices in remote access will continue as we partner with Microcom to offer 56 Kbps modem technology into our Xpress remote access solutions." Availability With this new joint development relationship with Rockwell, Microcom plans to be the first to market with the K56Plus technology as the company was with the V.FC (V.Fast Class) A modem technology for 28,800 bps from Rockwell International, endorsed by many modem vendors before V.34 was finalized. V.FC was very similar to V.34, but V.FC modems required an upgraded chip for full compatibility. technology in 1994. Microcom anticipates its K56Plus solution to be available for test and evaluation in the early first quarter of 1997, and shipping in central site and remote modem equipment by the end of first quarter of 1997. The new Rockwell and Microcom K56Plus technology is a soft architecture, allowing for software upgrades from the initial 56 Kbps implementation to the ITU-T standard 56 Kbps, expected to be formalized for·mal·ize tr.v. for·mal·ized, for·mal·iz·ing, for·mal·iz·es 1. To give a definite form or shape to. 2. a. To make formal. b. sometime in 1998. Microcom central site OEM partners, Cisco Systems, Bay Networks, DIGITAL and Gandalf, and Rockwell central site modem manufacturers, Ariel, Ascend and Cascade, currently utilize Rockwell data communications data communications, application of telecommunications technology to the problem of transmitting data, especially to, from, or between computers. In popular usage, it is said that data communications make it possible for one computer to "talk" with another. engines and will work to integrate 56 Kbps technology. More than 125 remote modem manufacturers are supporting the K56Plus technology, including leading retail vendors Hayes, Boca Research and Zoom Telephonics. About Rockwell Rockwell Semiconductor Systems is the fastest-growing business segment of Rockwell. Based in Newport Beach, it comprises the Multimedia Communications Division and the Wireless Communications wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. Division and the newly acquired Brooktree Division. The Multimedia Communications Division is the world leader in facsimile and PC modem devices for personal communications electronics. The Wireless Communications Division offers total system solutions for advanced cordless telephony and global positioning system Global Positioning System: see navigation satellite. Global Positioning System (GPS) Precise satellite-based navigation and location system originally developed for U.S. military use. (GPS) receiver engines and is developing products and technologies to address the Personal Communications Services See PCS. (PCS (1) (Personal Communications Services) Refers to wireless services that emerged after the U.S. government auctioned commercial licenses in 1994 and 1995. This radio spectrum in the 1. ) and wireless packet data markets. The Brooktree Division is a leading producer of high-performance digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits for multimedia, graphics, communications and imaging applications. The Switching Systems Switching systems (communications) The assemblies of switching and control devices provided so that any station in a communications system may be connected as desired with any other station. Division, based in Downers' Grove, Ill., designs, manufactures and services call-processing technologies, including automatic call distributors, computer-telephony integration, information collection and management, and workstation applications. Rockwell's industrial automation, semiconductor systems, avionics and communications systems, and automotive component systems businesses are leading providers of technology solutions to customers worldwide. The company has annual revenues in excess of $10 billion and employs more than 56,000 people. About Microcom Microcom is a worldwide leader in providing central site and remote access solutions to OEMs, Internet service providers Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. , regional bell operating companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against American Telephone & Telegraph. History , corporations, universities and individual mobile PC users. The company's products enable users to access and communicate with corporate LANs, the Internet, intranets and online services from remote locations. Products and technologies offered by Microcom include modems, central site systems, OEM solutions, and network security, network management, remote access and remote control software. Microcom can be reached on the World Wide Web at http://www.microcom.com or via a toll-free number at 800/822-8224. -0- NOTE: Microcom and MNP are registered trademarks, and MODEMWARE, Microcom Access Integrator, Microcom Networking Protocol and ISPorte are trademarks of Microcom Systems Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. CONTACT: Amy Novakoff Microcom Inc. 617/551-1695 anovakoff@smtp.microcom.com or Eileen Algaze Rockwell Semiconductor Systems 714/221-6849 eileen.algaze@nb.rockwell.com |
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