Mindspeed™ Enhances Performance of Multi-Port DS3/E3/STS-1 LIUs with Industry-Leading Delta Sigma Design for Ultra-Low Jitter

Line Interface Unit (LIU) Solves Timing and Jitter Challenges with Digital Jitter Attenuation Technology, Adaptive Equalization, and Diagnostics for DS3/E3/STS-1 Applications 

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., November 13, 2002 -- Mindspeed Technologies™, the Internet infrastructure business of Conexant Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNXT), today announced that it has incorporated its advanced digital jitter attenuation (DJAT) technology into the company’s widely-deployed LIU family and significantly enhanced the devices’ performance, reach, power efficiency and diagnostic capabilities. [Flash Video]

“Our M2835x family of 2-, 3-, 4- or 6-port LIUs reduce chip count while improving receiver performance through adaptive equalization techniques that provide robust data recovery in the presence of line, board and channel impairments such as jitter, noise and cross-talk,” said Ali Mesri, vice president of marketing for Mindspeed. “With the addition of our DJAT technology, these highly integrated LIUs also perform critical desynchronization, due to mapping/demapping functions, and offer an ideal platform for even more highly integrated DS3/E3 products in the future.”

Mindspeed’s new family of 2-, 3-, 4- or 6-port LIUs is designed for applications including add/drop multiplexers, routers, ATM multi-service switches, and digital cross-connects. The M2835x family complements Mindspeed’s large installed base of DS3/E3 LIU products, and seamlessly interfaces with the company’s multi-port DS3/E3 framers and 12-port T3/E3 framers to provide a complete solution for high-density DS3/E3 line cards.

Technical Details

Mindspeed’s LIUs use proven complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology to achieve high levels of integration, and are designed to optimize cost and performance under diverse operating conditions (-40 to 85 C) and to accurately recover signals transmitted over 1,350 feet of cable -- up to 1800 feet of cable in laboratory testing – which far exceeds the industry requirements. Automatic adaptive equalization enables data recovery over these distances with an additional 25 dB of flat loss, and on-chip clock rate adapters provide reliable DS3, E3 and STS-1 clock rates from a single 19.44 MHz passive crystal or external input.

Additionally, configurable transmit pulse-shaping capabilities improve interoperability in the presence of relays and other transmit interface impairments within carrier-class networks and greater adaptability to system-level constraints to ensure compatibility with prior deployed equipments. The M2835x family includes extensive transmit performance monitoring capability to detect cable shorts, opens, and any damaged external components connected to the line such as relays and transformers via internal registers for remote monitoring by the operator or equipment manufacturer.

The M2835x LIU family incorporates two, three, four or six independent receivers, transmitters, and jitter attenuators and desynchronizers in a single package, along with 4-signal serial and parallel 8-bit microprocessor interface ports and on-board independent voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs). Each channel can be independently configured to operate at DS3, E3 or STS-1 rates, and each can also be turned off and tri-stated for redundancy support and power conservation.

The M2835x LIU family also features a clock meter that indicates the quality of the receive clock and alerts network operators to variations in the network, and each device also performs a DC continuity check of all receive inputs. An on-chip B3ZS/HDB3 encoder and decoder can be enabled or disabled, and the devices also feature full diagnostics capabilities including on-board pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) detection and generation with the ability to insert and detect single bit error, and support for both fixed and QRSS patterns (framed and unframed). Each LIU provides hardware, serial and parallel processor interfaces, full loopback capabilities, and independent channel power-down capability for low-power operation.

The DJAT portion of each M2835x LIU supports all major industry test standards, and operates on a configurable, per-channel basis in either line-timing or signal de-mapping 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. This allows compliance with SONET APS requirements in high jitter environment such as de-mapping. For instance, in the 6-port M28356 LIU, power dissipation is kept to <200 mW per port typical with all six channels operational.

Price and Availability

The M2835x family is sampling now, with production scheduled for the first quarter of calendar 2003. The 6-port M28356 is packaged in a 27mm ball grid array (BGA) and priced at $105 in OEM quantities. The 4-port M28354, 3-port M28353 and 2-port M28352 are each packed in a 19mm BGA. In OEM volumes, the 4-port M28354 is priced at $80, the 3-port M28353 is priced at $60, and the 2-port M28352 is priced at $42.

About Mindspeed Technologies
          Mindspeed Technologies™, the Internet infrastructure business of Conexant Systems, Inc., designs, develops and sells semiconductor networking solutions for communications applications that extend from the edge of the Internet through linked metropolitan networks. Key products include voice-band processor solutions designed to support voice and data services across wireline and wireless networks, T/E carrier physical- and link-layer products, and ATM/MPLS network processors; complemented by multi-megabit DSL and high-speed SerDes transceivers, crosspoint switches, and lower-speed SONET optical networking PMDs.
          Mindspeed products are used in a wide variety of networking equipment including digital loop carriers, remote access concentrators, add-drop multiplexers, high-speed routers, ATM switches, dense wave division multiplexers, optical switches and digital cross-connect systems.
          Headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., Mindspeed employs approximately 800 people with design centers and sales offices worldwide.



Safe Harbor Statement
          This press 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: 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 of manufacturing capacity; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; changes in product mix; 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 broadband communications and Internet infrastructure businesses; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; and the uncertainties of litigation, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the security and safety risks of our employees and of company facilities and those risks and uncertainties 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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