Wind River Expands Networking Portfolio for Optical and Carrier Equipment; Introduces ATM and MPLS Protocol Suites.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2000

Wind River Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIND), a leading provider of software and services for smart devices in the Internet age, today announced its new WindNet(TM) Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) product suites.

These product suites are designed for device manufacturers building carrier-class communication equipment for next generation converged networks. Typical applications include access concentrators, multiservice edge switches, enterprise and optical backbone switches and ATM end systems. The products also include the components developers need to integrate ATM networks with Internet Protocol (IP) networks for the reliable transmission of voice, video and data.

Service providers are rapidly evolving their networks to support multiple services over IP, and both ATM and MPLS are key technologies that facilitate and speed this transition. The sale of ATM switching equipment alone will total $5.5 billion in 2000, growing to $9.4 billion in 2002 (Vertical Systems Group). The optical networking equipment market, in which ATM and MLPS play a key role, is expected to grow from $44 billion this year to $89 billion in 2003 (RHK Inc.).

WindNet ATM and WindNet MPLS have been tightly integrated with the VxWorks(R) real time operating system (RTOS), Tornado(R) development environment, and the wide variety of complementary WindNet protocols offered by Wind River. This integration offers equipment manufacturers faster time to market and longer time in market, by avoiding unnecessary evaluation, development and procurement time.

"As service provider networks converge on IP, ensuring quality of service has become imperative. ATM has been widely deployed in backbone networks and now MPLS is being layered on top or beside ATM," said Dave Fraser, vice president and general manager of Wind River's Networks business unit. "The introduction of WindNet ATM and WindNet MPLS in conjunction with our VxWorks RTOS and complete line of switching, routing, security and network management products gives device manufacturers everything they need to develop and deliver carrier class network products to the market quickly, efficiently and affordably."

Developing both of these product suites began with leveraging proven technology from Data Communication, Ltd. "DCL was delighted to team with Wind River, pairing our best-in-breed DC-ATM and DC-MPLS protocol suites with Wind River's market-leading IP networking stacks, VxWorks RTOS, and Tornado tools. This outstanding combination has resulted in two world-class suites from Wind River," said Phil McConnell, managing director of Data Connection, Ltd.

"Our customers have three top priorities: time-to-market, time-to-market, and time-to-market. Our revolutionary PayloadPlus network processors match our customers' requirements for both speed and time-to-market, and they need top-notch system software and protocol stacks," said Eric Rothfus, software director with Lucent Microelectronics' Network Processor Division. "That's why we're teaming with Wind River to provide a tightly-integrated, complete networking solution that provides the speed, time-to-market, and quality that our customers need."

WindNet ATM and MPLS Products Implement Latest Industry Specifications

Wind River's new WindNet ATM product suite provides a complete set of stacks for controlling and managing ATM permanent and switched virtual circuits. Support is provided for core elements of an ATM network element including standard UNI signaling, PNNI signaling and routing, and ATM call control functions. Other components add Soft-PVC control, IMLI management, RFC-compliant IPOA, and fault tolerance capabilities.

The new WindNet MPLS product suite from Wind River offers network original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) a modular set of components for implementing standards-based RSVP, LDP and CR-LDP, along with a label management function. The WindNet MPLS products can inter-work with WindNet ATM and run within the same high performance execution environment.

About Wind River

Wind River, www.windriver.com, is a worldwide leader in embedded software. Wind River provides software development tools, real-time operating systems, and advanced connectivity for use in products throughout the Internet, telecommunications and data communications, digital imaging, digital consumer electronics, networking, medical, computer peripherals, automotive, industrial automation and control, and aerospace/defense markets. Wind River is how smart things think. Founded in 1983, Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, with operations in sixteen countries worldwide.

Note to Editors: Wind River Systems, the Wind River Systems logo, VxWorks and WindNet are registered trademarks of Wind River Systems, Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies or organizations.