Sorrento Networks Lays the Foundation for Migration to Next Generation End-to-End All Optical Networks.

Business/Technology Editors

SUPERCOMM 2000 (Booth #2517)

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2000

Sorrento Focuses on Giving Service Providers the Tools Needed to

Implement Optical Networking Solutions

Sorrento Networks, Inc., a leading provider of optical networking solutions, today announced its vision of an end-to-end all-optical metro network. Sorrento Networks offers a family of carrier class products that, when used together, create an ultra-scalable, transparent, efficient and dynamically manageable proactive metro optical network (PMON). This allows service providers to maximize their resource utilization, while reducing network costs and complexity to meet rapidly growing and changing bandwidth demands.

Sorrento Networks' all-optical end-to-end metro optical network architecture places optics at four critical network junctures: access, transport, switching and management. An all- optical end-to-end network solution is key to how successfully service providers worldwide will meet the growing bandwidth demands placed upon their metro area networks.

"An all-optical metro network architecture will provide the necessary flexibility and robustness while driving cost out of the network. Eventually, all networks must become data speed and protocol transparent -- capable of carrying any kind of information traffic effectively and efficiently. Failure to do so will mean losing customers to more competitive carriers," said Dr. Xin Cheng, Chief Executive Officer, Sorrento Networks.

Dr. Cheng continued, "Carriers that satisfy the marketplace's need for low cost and service flexibility will prosper. The key is creating `information centric' metro optical networks that can proactively address customers' needs. Customers will demand plenty of bandwidth for plenty of applications, many of which haven't even been dreamed of. Providing manageable bandwidth on-demand will prove to be a major competitive advantage."

"Through 1999, DWDM was almost exclusively a long-haul public network phenomenon. The game in long-haul was how to throw the most bits the farthest for the least money, and DWDM played the game better than any other technology. In contrast, DWDM has been slow to catch on in short-haul (metro access and metro core) applications, where a different set of requirements and network topologies are present. Optical networking, which is the natural evolution of optical transport from a DWDM-based point-to-point transport technology to a more dynamic, intelligent networking technology, will enable service providers to harness DWDM effectively in a variety of metro applications from access through the core. Sorrento is focused on giving service providers the tools they need to implement optical networking in short-haul networks," commented Dana Cooperson, director of optical networks at RHK, Inc., a telecommunications market research and consulting firm.

Sorrento Networks' family of optical networking products features EPC(TM) (access), GigaMux(TM) (transport), TeraMatrix(TM) (switching), and TeraMan(TM) (management).

Working together, these products create a seamless proactive metro optical network that offers carriers distinct competitive advantages:

Ultra-Scalability

Ultra-scalability of the Sorrento product line is highlighted by the ability to scale in terms of wavelengths, tributaries, network size, and topology. The products comprise a modular, reliable architecture that allows service providers full flexibility. Namely, operators can scale from megabits to terabits, from single fibers to many multiple fibers, and from hub to ring to mesh topologies. This provides for a very cost-effective solution, fully leveraging a low-entry cost "pay-as-you-grow" philosophy. These attributes will enable carriers to instantly reconfigure their networks to provision capacity where and when it is needed, dynamically scaling their current network infrastructures towards true, multi-service optical networks in a timely manner.

Transparency

Sorrento Networks' all optical end-to-end metro networks are fully transparent to bit-rate, signal format, and protocols. This enables carriers to remove many intermediate technology layers, such as SONET and ATM, resulting in simpler network management and a more proactive, efficient network hierarchy. This feature is evident in the GigaMux architecture, which is designed to be fully network-layer transparent, allowing for compatibility with multiple equipment types, including SONET ADMs, terabit routers, and ATM switches. Additionally, the TeraMatrix features a transparent switching fabric, which extends service transparency into the metro core and thereby yields a seamless all optical network.

Fast, Intelligent Provisioning

The dynamic wavelength routing and management capabilities of the TeraMatrix platform allows network operators to provision bandwidth in real-time and upon demand, thereby achieving an unprecedented level of customer responsiveness. This decreases time-to-market in the intensely competitive service provider space -- a key advantage. These capabilities will enable carriers to instantly reconfigure networks to provision capacity where and when it is needed most, and cost-efficiently support new services. For example, a metro carrier can provision bandwidth to its downtown area during business hours but redirect that bandwidth at night to residential areas for home-based web surfers' use. The built-in intelligence also offers advanced optical quality of service (QoS) and service level agreements (SLA) provisioning capabilities, raising the bar on customer expectations and delivering measurable competitive advantages.

"On-demand provisioning permits carriers to deliver services to market faster - a major advantage in competitive markets. The faster services can be turned up, the faster providers can start charging for those services. Real-time service provisioning also provides a highly effective method of using bandwidth --bandwidth that can be switched depending on current traffic patterns," further commented Dr. Cheng.

Lightpath Management

Sorrento Networks' all optical end-to-end metro networks are highly manageable, from the macro network architecture down to individual data streams. Sorrento Networks uses IP intelligence at the optical layer to effectively control and manage the network. With IP functionality within the optical layer, all nodes can be monitored and updated in real- time. With more granular and accurate information available instantly, intelligent IP routing capabilities can be used much like an automatic network planning tool. As a result, available network capacity can be more efficiently used. This optimization enables providers to put more services on the network, while still meeting quality of service objectives and service level agreements.

"Up to now, carriers have been forced to over-engineer networks to guard against sudden spikes in traffic that can adversely effect mission critical services. Providing dedicated capacity, which often lies fallow and unused, increases business costs and does little to ease metro bandwidth bottlenecks," added Dr. Cheng. "Our `on-the-fly' network management moves network architecture closer to the Holy Grail of telecommunications: more fully utilized pipes with the potential to charge premium and discount prices for `rush hour' versus `off-peak' traffic."

Multi-level Survivability 

Sorrento Networks' optical solutions offer comprehensive standards-based protection capabilities in order to support the requirements of a broad range of client protocols. These features include guaranteed, fast (millisecond) recovery for mission-critical services, along with more intermediate time scales for other latent services. Moreover, Sorrento Networks solutions allow operators to implement many ubiquitous service recovery schemes, including linear, ring, and mesh-based protection schemes. In particular, the advanced mesh protection allows for much more flexible and efficient service definitions for a broad range of clients. Advanced service definitions will allow service providers the ability to bundle services with different optical QoS and SLA, thereby giving their customers multiple options in defining their grade of service - a major competitive advantage.

Integrated Network Management

Sorrento Networks' metro solution comes with a complete, integrated, standards-based network management solution, termed TeraMAN. This is a client-protocol independent solution that delivers provisioning, performance monitoring, and accounting management capabilities. TeraMAN features well-defined, GUI (graphical user interface)-driven software that provides high network observation in an increasingly complex service provider environment.

Migration Path

Sorrento Networks' all optical end-to-end metro networks can flexibly support mesh, ring, multi-ring, point-to-point, super-hub network topologies. This capability is vital in order to facilitate a cost-effective, staged migration to an all-optical network architecture. Sorrento Networks' solution can initially be deployed to relieve capacity exhaust in congested hubs and collapse electronic multiplexing gear. Subsequently, migrations to more advanced ring and multi-ring, and eventually mesh topologies can be done in a cost-effective manner. Sorrento Networks allows metro carriers to create next-generation mesh networks that permit lightpaths to connect widely separated points, a process called "any-to-any connectivity." Ultimately, mesh topologies will enable network traffic to be sent more directly between two points rather than transiting intermediate stops on a SONET ring. In addition to speed and efficiency, the increased network flexibility of mesh networks promises robust protection capabilities, ensuring carriers' optical QoS guarantees and SLA.

"Metro networks will ultimately evolve toward an all-optical infrastructure to benefit from its simplicity, elegant support of new services and near-limitless ultra-scalability," said Scott Clavenna, principal analyst at Pioneer Consulting. "By articulating the vision of a purely photonic metro network, and delivering compelling products to market, Sorrento Networks is taking an important step on the way to achieving that goal."

Competitive advantages

The coming of the optical networking age is promising improved network efficiencies, allowing service providers to cost effectively deliver a broad range of services to its customers. Service providers will also be able to offer optical QoS and SLAs to support these services. For service providers to offer end-to-end all optical solutions, it is paramount that they deploy optical technology in the metro space. By implementing proactive metropolitan optical networks (PMONs), service providers will be able to offer the benefits of the optical revolution to their end customers. This strategy will allow service providers to offer new, comprehensive, and cost-effective solutions to deliver an enhanced range of services to their end-customers. These solutions will offer dynamic, standards-based multi-protocol support with efficient provisioning, survivability, and integrated network management capabilities. Sorrento Networks' end-to-end all optical networking solution enables service providers to sustain long term competitive advantages by building future-proof PMONs that allow them to cost effectively and quickly address the needs of their current customers and plan for future growth.

Sorrento Networks is exhibiting at Supercomm 2000, booth number 2517.

About Sorrento Networks

Sorrento Networks has been a provider of all optical networking solutions that are used in both interoffice and access networks since 1997. Sorrento Networks, Inc. products are successfully deployed at numerous customer sites in North America, Europe and Asia.

Sorrento Networks' products are specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Metropolitan market, supporting a wide variety of protocols, network traffic speeds and changing traffic patterns. Sorrento Network's products' small footprint allows service providers to offer a wide variety of services from the same platform including aggregation, transport, switching and management.

The Company's ultra scalable carrier class products are manufactured to meet all key industry certifications. These products offer customers an optical end-to-end solution that improves bandwidth utilization and reduces network costs and complexity. The products provide a migration path from ring, point to point topologies to mesh architecture of next generation networks.

Sorrento Networks is headquartered in San Diego, California and is a subsidiary of Osicom Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: FIBR). Recent news releases and additional information about Sorrento Networks can be found at www.sorrentonet.com.

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Words such as "plans," "expects," "intends", and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The occurrence of actual events may differ materially due to a variety of factors, including without limitation the following: (1) unanticipated technical problems relating to the Company's products; (2) the Company's ability, or lack thereof, to make, market and sell optical networking products that meet with market approval and acceptance; (3) the greater financial, technical and other resources of the Company's many, larger competitors in the marketplace for optical networking products; (4) changed market conditions, new business opportunities or other factors that might affect the Company's decisions as to the best interests of its shareholders; and (5) other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's parent corporation's reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission