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STMicroelectronics and IKANOS ACHIEVE STANDARDS-COMPLIANT, CHIP-LEVEL DMT-VDSL INTEROPERABILITY |
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 Toronto, CANADA, March 3, 2003-Ikanos Communications and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) today announced that they have successfully achieved standards-compliant, chip-level interoperability based on Discrete Multi-Tone-Very-high-data rate Digital Subscriber Line (DMT-VDSL) technology. Their chips comply with the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU-T), European Telecommunications Standards Institute's (ETSI), and the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) standard band plans, including Plan 997 and Plan 998, and operate at data rates of over 50 Mbps. The two companies will demonstrate interoperability during the FS-VDSL Committee meeting, March 3-6, 2003 in Toronto, Canada.Today's announcement marks a significant milestone for the DMT-VDSL Initiative, which was founded in February 2002 by leading semiconductor vendors GlobespanVirata, Ikanos, and STMicroelectronics. Successful interoperability proves that these companies are delivering on their promise to provide reliable, high-quality VDSL-based data, video, and voice services to homes and business. "As a leader in delivering DMT-VDSL silicon solutions today, part of our responsibility is to enable standards-based, mass-market adoption of DMT-VDSL" said Behrooz Rezvani, founder and CTO at Ikanos Communications. "Standards-compliant, chip-level interoperability is a crucial milestone for equipment vendors and carriers alike. Because members of the DMT-VDSL initiative all offer unique feature sets, carriers now have a choice of services they can deliver to their subscribers." "As demonstrated through this interoperability event, the DMT approach allows our companies to maintain superior flexibility and compatibility with existing services. Since carriers have already standardized on DMT for their ADSL transmission, the backward compatibility of Zipper-DMT VDSL products with ADSL allows us to expand our current offering while giving customers a cost effective, scaleable solution," said Leon Cloetens, vice president of the Telecom Group and General Manager of the Access Products Division of STMicroelectronics. "Our high involvement in developing standards-compliant DMT-VDSL products allow us to offer our chipset solutions to equipment vendors and carriers immediately." Alcatel, the world's leading supplier of DSL technology, is supportive of multi-vendor interoperability that accelerates the market for VDSL solutions. "Alcatel is excited that DMT has achieved VDSL interoperability between different technology vendors", said Willem Verbiest, Vice President of the Alcatel Access Business Unit. "We are confident that this major milestone, in which Alcatel was directly involved, is the final step towards mass adoption of DMT for VDSL. Alcatel is interested in making DMT a reality because of its superior performance and compatibility with the existing DMT-based ADSL installed base. In fact, Alcatel is demonstrating video services over DMT-based VDSL within the context of our world-leading 7300 platform during the FS-VDSL committee meeting." Interoperability of standards-compliant chipsets boosts the number of products that meet global VDSL specifications and requirements of carriers, and accelerates the market for VDSL solutions by increasing choice and lowering costs for equipment manufacturers. Equipment vendors can now choose chipsets that offer a variety of features and benefits, which means that equipment manufacturers don't have to design product around each new chipset, which significantly lowers cost. Cost savings will be passed on to carriers, enabling them to offer multiple solutions at a lower cost. Carriers have already standardized on DMT for their Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) transmission, so it is a natural maturation to offer DMT for their VDSL offering. VDSL is a standard for symmetrical and asymmetrical transmission in support of full-service access network applications including data, video, and voice channels, plus high-speed Internet-at speeds in excess of 50 Mbps-using existing copper telephone lines. Ikanos and STMicroelectronics have all developed VDSL chipsets based on DMT modulation technology as adopted by the ITU-T, ETSI, and ANSI. In real-world conditions, noise and other line interference degrades signal integrity, affecting the speed and distance of VDSL transmission. DMT modulation overcomes this interference by configuring the transmitted signal in real-time to match the line conditions. The result is higher quality, error-reduced communications at higher data rates over longer distances. Tests show that VDSL modems and other products designed with DMT-based components will deliver significantly improved speed and reach performance. About Ikanos Communications Founded in 1999 and based in Silicon Valley, Ikanos Communications has created a new class of silicon that serves the entire range of worldwide broadband markets and applications with a single programmable chipset. Ikanos' industry-leading solution includes the SmartLeap™ 8100, SmartLeap™ 8800 A/VDSL for broadband access concentrators and the CleverConnect™ 150 for Customer Premise Equipment. These chipsets form an end-to-end broadband solution that enables access equipment vendors to serve many different customers while slashing time to market and lowering development, manufacturing, and inventory costs. Ikanos also offers the Ikanos Programmable Operating System™ (iPOS), which consists of firmware and APIs. iPOS enables equipment vendors to dynamically configure LRFE, EFM, VDSL-DMT 998, VDSL-DMT 997, VDSL-DMT Flex, and ADSL-DMT on Ikanos chipsets. Ikanos Communications provides comprehensive offerings that encompass silicon, embedded software, reference designs, high-level APIs, and extensive documentation. Ikanos is a member of, and contributes to, ANSI, the IEEE 802.3 EFM Study Group, DSL Forum, and ITU-T. For additional information about Ikanos Communications, please visit the company's Web site at www.ikanos.com or contact Connie Henry at 1.510.438.6276 or chenry@ikanos.com. About STMicroelectronics STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2002, the Company's net revenues were $6.32 billion and net earnings were $429.4 million. Further information on ST can be found at http://www.st.com. © 2003 by Ikanos Communications. Ikanos Communications, Ikanos, and the Ikanos logo design are trademarks of Ikanos Communications. All Rights Reserved. For further information please contact: Meghan O'Driscoll Engage PR Tel.: 1.510.748.8200, ext 228 E-mail: modriscoll@engagepr.com Connie HenryIkanos Communications Tel.: 1.510.438.6276 E-mail: chenry@ikanos.com |
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