Mindspeed Technologies Feeds Optical Networks More Traffic, More Quickly, With World's Highest-Density, Lowest Power, 12-Port Line Interface Solution.

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 12, 2001

Mindspeed(TM) Again Sets LIU Density Record, Leapfrogging the Next

Generation With Industry's First Single-Chip 12-Port Device

Mindspeed Technologies(TM) today introduced a 12-port line interface unit (LIU) that will enable telecommunications equipment manufacturers to more easily increase the density of electrical network connections that can be aggregated onto the Internet's optical core for ultra-high-speed transport.

Mindspeed is the Internet Infrastructure business of Conexant Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNXT).

Mindspeed's CX28335 12-port LIU is a key element for building such Internet infrastructure equipment as digital loop carriers (DLCs), digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs), multi-service access concentrators and optical add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) that are used to aggregate lower-speed electrical network connections into higher-speed optical connections.

Mindspeed introduced the first multi-port LIU in 1999. The company has now built on that same innovative three-port platform to deliver a 12-port solution that again triples available density, this time as compared with the newest quad-port generation of LIUs.

"Mindspeed continues to raise the bar for line-aggregation density and performance, helping equipment manufacturers meet escalating bandwidth demands in the wide area network infrastructure and metropolitan optical networks," said Raouf Halim, who will become chief executive officer of Mindspeed Technologies when it becomes a separate company.

"As with our industry-leading line of triple LIU devices, each CX28335 channel is composed of completely separate transmit and receive sections with a common reference clock and dedicated power and ground connections that eliminate crosstalk and preserve optimum speed and reliability of these aggregated connections."

In addition to providing breakthrough port density, Mindspeed's CX28335 LIU offers an industry-low 330mW per port of power dissipation.

It meets all International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Bellcore and AT&T standards, features more performance-monitoring circuitry than competitive solutions to enhance reliability and is supported by Mindspeed's complete line of software driver products and a comprehensive evaluation module with all necessary reference-design components.

Technical Details

Mindspeed's CX28335 LIU device provides the industry's most efficient and economical solution for aggregating 12 T3 (digital service Level 3 or DS3), E3 (34 Mbps service used outside North America) or synchronous transport signals (STS-1) into an OC-12 (622 Mbps) or OC-48 (2.5 Gbps) connection on a single line card.

The device can be used in Internet edge access equipment such as DLCs, DSLAMs and multiservice access concentrators for high-speed T3 line aggregation in the existing WAN infrastructure. It also can be used in core access equipment such as ADMs for metropolitan optical networks, to enable carriers to offer expanded services such as DS3.

In this application, asynchronous T3 frames are mapped into synchronous optical network (SONET) frames and can be used to transport ATM or narrowband voice and data traffic time division multiplex (TDM) service. The CX28335 LIU provides an ideal solution in this application because it may be used on combined T3/E3/STS-1E line cards without changes to transformers or front-end circuitry.

Alternatively, it may be paired with the most suitable framer and mapper ASICs for the intended service type.

The CX28335 LIU includes 12 independent transceivers on a single chip and only requires the addition of 1:1 coupling transformers, termination resistors and supply bypass capacitors to create a complete solution. The device is unique in its inclusion of a parallel processor port that allows each port on the device to be independently configured using a common control interface.

Optimum equalizer settings are then automatically selected by the device depending on configuration of an individual port for E3 or DS3/STS-1 mode, unlike other devices that require reconfiguration if the line length changes.

Each channel on the CX28335 LIU has a transmit pulse shaper that can be set to ensure that the cross-connect pulse mask requirement is met for transmit cable lengths up to 450 feet, as defined by ANSI and Telecordia standards. In addition, optional line build out (LBO) may be enabled individually per port, which is useful in installations with very short cable runs.

The transmit pulse is re-timed by an internal phase locked loop (PLL) so that the transmit pulse is dependent only on the period of the transmit clock.

The high-density LIU extends Mindspeed's leadership in the fast-growing T3/E3/STS-1 segment of the worldwide communications marketplace. DS3 and T3 lines (or E3, in Europe) are dedicated phone connections supporting data rates of about 45 Mbps, usually consisting of 672 individual channels, each of which supports 64 Kbps.

These lines are used in the Internet backbone and for Internet service providers (ISPs) to connect to this high-speed backbone.

The CX28335 LIU is part of a comprehensive portfolio of Mindspeed products that encompass all of the circuit-aggregation functions required for a typical T3/E3 line card. This includes the industry's highest-density, 12-port T3/E3 framer, plus network processors and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) segmentation and reassembly (SAR) devices.

Mindspeed also offers a family of optical components, as well as its OptiPHY(TM) family of broadband access multiplexer (BAM) devices, high-level data link controller (HDLC) devices, and framer/multiplexer devices for SONET and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) equipment.

Pricing and Availability

The CX28335 is sampling now and is scheduled to enter volume production in the second calendar quarter of 2001. It is priced at $205 each in OEM volumes, and packaged in a 35 mm taped ball grid array (TBGA).

Complete datasheet, IBIS models and an evaluation module are available now, consisting of a complete design including transformers, crystal oscillators and mass connectors for both line- and system-side signals.

About Mindspeed Technologies

Mindspeed Technologies is the Internet Infrastructure business of Conexant Systems, and offers a complete portfolio of semiconductor and software solutions that range from physical-layer access devices at the edge of the Internet up through switch fabric and network processor products for the high-speed optical core.

Products for the Internet infrastructure are grouped into three high-growth areas: wide area network (WAN) transport, multi-service access, and broadband access. Solutions for WAN transport focus on packet-based optical networks by providing a complete range of physical-layer transceivers, ATM products, and network processors.

The multi-service access business includes a comprehensive family of multi-service carrier IP gateway products with industry-leading voice over IP solutions. The broadband access portfolio offers one of the industry's broadest lines of symmetrical and asymmetrical DSL solutions.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains statements relating to future results of Conexant (including certain projections and business trends) that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: maintaining a consistent and reliable source of energy; global economic and market conditions, such as the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the markets addressed by the company's and its customers' products; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; successful development of new products; the timing of new product introductions; the availability and extent of utilization of manufacturing capacity; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; changes in product mix; fluctuations in manufacturing yields; product obsolescence; the ability to develop and implement new technologies and to obtain protection for the related intellectual property; the successful separation of the company's Internet infrastructure and personal networking businesses; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; labor relations of the company, its customers and suppliers; and the uncertainties of litigation, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Other brands and names contained in this release are the property of their respective owners.