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Mindspeed Announces Industry's First DS3/E3/STS-1 'Line Card on a Chip' Family for Datacom and Telecom Applications

Posted on: Monday, 7 June 2004, 06:00 CDT

Six New Devices Extend Company's "Line Card on a Chip" Family, Providing Complete, Highly Integrated Solutions Designed for ATM, Packet Processing and TDM Networks

Mindspeed Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:MSPD), a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, today announced a family of "line card on a chip" solutions that includes the industry's first device designed to support both datacom and telecom applications in wireline and wireless networks.

The M293xx family enhances the flexibility of next-generation line cards by replacing several discrete devices, reducing cost and power requirements while saving board space. The new family is based on the design of Mindspeed's highly integrated 12-port M29320 "line card on a chip" introduced in May 2003. The family of devices will enable networking equipment manufacturers to develop higher-density multiservice cards in their switches, add/drop multiplexers/optical edge devices (ADMs/OEDs), and other systems with greater scalability, lower costs and faster time-to-market.

Mindspeed's new complete "line card on a chip" devices integrate line interface units (LIUs), framers, mappers, along with ATM and HDLC processing for datacom and STS-12 framers for telecom, providing a single-chip physical-layer (PHY) solution for aggregation and transport for ATM, packet and TDM services.

"Mindspeed is the first company in the industry to offer a single device that supports both telecom and datacom applications -- a testament to our integration capability. With the six new additions to our 'line card on a chip' family, we now provide the most comprehensive, high-density DS3/E3/STS-1 offering available in the market today for both datacom and telecom applications in wireline and wireless networks," said Dan Parsons, product line manager at Mindspeed.

The new devices are designed for a wide variety of applications including ADMs/OEDs, WAN aggregation routers, digital cross-connects, ATM switches, digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs) and media gateways.

Technical Details

The six new devices include the 6-port M29306 providing the flexibility needed for port independent TDM, ATM and packet processing services on a single device; the M29313/M29314/M29316 are highly integrated 3-, 4-, and 6-port solutions, respectively, that address ATM and packet services; the 3-port M29323 and the 6-port M29326 are designed for TDM transport applications.

Mindspeed's telecom application package (TAP) software for PHY devices features a well-defined application interface (API) that allows easy integration with higher-level applications software to shorten the development cycle.

Mindspeed's M293xx solutions are designed to optimize cost and performance under extreme operating conditions (-40 to 85 C). Each channel can be independently configured to operate at DS3, E3 or STS-1 rates, supporting different protocols, and each can also be turned off and tri-stated for redundancy support and power conservation. The new devices require only one 19.44 MHz reference clock (passive crystal) or 77.76/155.52 MHz SONET reference clock for generating all the necessary internal line rate clocks.

The integrated DS3/E3/STS-1 LIUs accurately recover signals transmitted over 1,800 feet of cable -- far exceeding industry requirements. Additionally, configurable transmit pulse-shaping capabilities improve interoperability within carrier-class networks and greater adaptability to system-level constraints to ensure compatibility with prior deployed equipment.

The DJAT portion of each LIU supports all major industry test standards, and operates on a configurable, per-channel basis in either line-timing or signal demapping mode, while eliminating the need for expensive and environmentally sensitive voltage controlled quartz crystal oscillators (VCXOs), ASICs and other analog components. The DJAT architecture includes dynamic loop bandwidth control to simultaneously achieve fast convergence and very low jitter transfer characteristics in high jitter environments such as demapping and pointer adjustments, fulfilling SONET APS requirements.

Pricing and Availability

Offered in a 27mm FCBGA package, Mindspeed's new devices are sampling now, with volume production by September 2004. In OEM quantities, the M29306 is priced at $250; the M29313 is priced at $110; the M29314 is priced at $140; the M29316 is priced at $200; the M29323 is priced at $140; and the M29326 is priced at $225.

About Mindspeed Technologies(TM)

With headquarters in Newport Beach, Mindspeed Technologies Inc. designs, develops and sells semiconductor networking solutions for communications applications in enterprise, access, metropolitan and wide area networks.

The company's four key product families include high-performance analog transmission and switching solutions, multiservice access products designed to support voice and data services across wireline and wireless networks, T/E carrier physical-layer and link-layer devices, and ATM/MPLS network processors.

Mindspeed's products are used in a wide variety of network infrastructure equipment including voice and media gateways, high-speed routers, switches, access multiplexers, cross-connect systems, add-drop multiplexers and digital loop carrier equipment.

To learn more, visit the company at www.mindspeed.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements relating to Mindspeed, and our future results, including certain projections and business trends, that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results, and actual events that occur, may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the markets addressed by the company's and its customers' products; availability of capital needed for the company's business; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; successful development of new products; the timing of new product introductions; the availability of manufacturing capacity; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; 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 implementation of the company's expense reduction and restructuring initiatives; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; and the uncertainties of litigation, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including 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.

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