Spirent Communications Enhances 3G Broadband Test Solutions; Enhanced AAL2 Traffic Generation and Analysis Allows Realistic Modeling of Mobile Traffic Patterns.

Business Editors

SUPERCOMM 2002

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2002

Spirent Communications(TM), a wholly owned business group of Spirent plc (NYSE: SPM) (LSE: SPT), today announced the first solution to comprehensively test ATM Adaptation Layer 2 (AAL2) characteristics of 3G networks. This solution allows network equipment manufacturers and service providers to validate the performance of a converged voice and data 3G network. This and other products from Spirent's portfolio will be demonstrated at SUPERCOMM in Atlanta, GA, booth No. 12017, June 4-6.

Spirent's 3G test solution allows testing of universal mobile telecommunications systems (UMTS) networks, which use ATM as the primary technology delivering voice and data. In 3G wireless UMTS networks, AAL2 is used to convey multimedia traffic from data-enabled mobile handsets to the Internet. Available now on Spirent's AX/4000 platform, enhanced AAL2 traffic generation and analysis allows realistic modeling of mobile subscriber traffic patterns. The scalability and advanced functionality of this solution allow users to create a realistic packet generation model.

Spirent also offers support for Specific Segmentation and Reassembly (SSSAR), which is a standard for sending compressed voice packets in 3G networks, as well as a newly designed analyzer, which support simultaneous display of real-time VPI/VCI substream statistics and AAL2 channel ID in detail.

"3G represents a significant development in the genesis of converged voice, data and video networks and it is essential that this technology be fully tested to ensure quality and reliability prior to widespread deployment," said Bahaa Moukadam, vice president of product marketing, Spirent Communications. "Spirent's 3G test solution will accelerate revenue generation for equipment manufacturers by allowing them to deploy their technologies sooner and in turn, service providers can get their networks up and running more rapidly."

Spirent's 3G broadband test solutions address the growing demand for 3G testing in Asia, Europe and North America. In addition to AAL2, Spirent's 3G solutions include GPRS and 3G wireless core network testing.

The GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) Performance Test Suite for the AX/4000 is used to test the performance limits of GPRS Gateway Support Node (GGSN) systems by simulating hundreds of thousands of GTP tunnels created by mobile subscribers. Spirent's Adaptive Multi-Rate Codec Simulation allows the conversion of any WAV file into AAL2 packets for voice quality of service measurement. The company's 3G Network Impairment Module is used to emulate real-world ATM network impairments, such as delay, errors and jitter. Rounding out these offerings, Spirent also supports IPv6 Emulation/Conformance testing, to validate IPv6 performance of 3G routing network elements.

Spirent's 3G broadband test solution builds on its base of converged voice and data 3G test products including its recently introduced integrated system for end-to-end closed loop performance analysis of CDMA2000 1xEV DO access terminals. The closed loop 1xEV DO system combines Spirent's AirAccess EV, TAS4500 and SMB-600, and provides high-speed data traffic analysis over an emulated CDMA network with RF impairments. AirAccess provides real-time emulation of a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network and Spirent's TAS4500 adds real-world radio channel emulation with programmable multi-path fading characteristics. The SMB-600 provides high-speed network performance analysis capabilities, including throughput, latency and frame loss metrics. The complete system offers the necessary tools for wireless terminal manufacturers to maximize the data transfer performance of AT devices, and simultaneously enables carriers to characterize and select the optimal devices to deploy on their networks.

About Spirent Communications

Spirent Communications is a worldwide provider of integrated performance analysis and service assurance systems for next-generation network technologies. Spirent's solutions accelerate the profitable development and deployment of network equipment and services by emulating real-world conditions in the lab and assuring end-to-end performance of large-scale networks. www.spirentcom.com

Spirent Communications is a wholly owned business group of Spirent plc, an international network technology company. Spirent plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: SPT). The company is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker: SPM; CUSIP number: 84856M209).

Spirent, Spirent Communications and the Spirent logo are trademarks of Spirent plc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are held by their respective companies. All rights reserved.

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