<<<
Industry Leaders Drive Toward Mass Market ADSL Availability
PR Newswire - July 23, 1998 15:35
Alcatel, Analog Devices and Texas Instruments Reach First Milestone Toward
Multi-Vendor ADSL Interoperability
PARIS, NORWOOD, Mass, and DALLAS, July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel
(NYSE: ALA), Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN)
have accomplished the first milestone in their partnership designed to achieve
multi-vendor asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) interoperability. The companies
have successfully completed two-way interoperability testing between Alcatel's ADSL
central office solution and TI's customer modem silicon solution. In addition, testing has
also been completed between TI's central office modem and Alcatel's customer modem.
This is the first step in a broader interoperability program designed to confirm a
three-way ability to connect, send and receive data, and disconnect without
compromising the integrity of the system. The joint program is on schedule to
demonstrate this full multi-vendor interoperability later next month.
This technological breakthrough is expected to accelerate ADSL service deployment
worldwide by creating an open market for telecommunications, personal computer, and
modem equipment manufacturers ensuring equipment manufacturers will have multiple
sources of standards-based chipsets that work together across various ADSL
platforms.
Service providers will be able to deploy with confidence central office equipment that
will interoperate with a variety of customer premise equipment. Personal computer and
modem consumers will now be able to purchase equipment and high-speed Internet
services without concern for the type of equipment used in the telephone network.
In March Alcatel, Analog Devices and Texas Instruments announced plans to conduct
interoperability testing based on ANSI T1.413 Issue 2 discrete multi- tone (DMT)
ADSL at the physical layer, using asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) as the transport
protocol. In accomplishing this first milestone, the companies have successfully
demonstrated two-way interoperability and expect to complete the final round of tests in
late August, per their original agreement. While testing was based solely on full rate
ADSL, the participants believe that much of this effort will be transferable to other
versions of ADSL such as Universal ADSL as those standards become available.
"The rapid success of this testing demonstrates the benefits of having a worldwide
standard for successful mass deployment of this technology," said Mike Gorman,
Ameritech's vice president, Strategic Standards and Business Development. "This
achievement is a testimonial to the role of the ANSI T1.413 standard and the
interactions with the T1E1.4 Working Group in developing the Issue 2 standard. This
accomplishment is a major victory for consumers of high speed Internet access utilizing
ADSL and the adoption of open standards."
"Our position has always been firmly focused on providing standards compliant,
interoperable equipment as the path to least-cost solutions. The ability of commercially
deployed Alcatel DSLAM equipment to operate with other silicon destined for CPE
applications validates the idea of alternative sources" said Martin DePrycker, vice
president and general manager - Internet Access and ADSL, Access Systems Division
at Alcatel. "Alternatives in CPE will create market competition which will drive
mass-market ADSL availability. With the software programmability of our central office
solution, the same card in the DSLAM will support either full-rate or UADSL modems
on any port, which will lead to significant operations savings for our customers."
"We are focused on the ultimate result of this work that will, in the very near future,
serve to minimize the inherent risks of incompatibility, firmly establish a true
open-market environment for ADSL, and speed the benefits of this technology to
millions of end users around the world," said Mike Ziehl, director of marketing for
broadband products at Analog Devices. "As a leading provider of high-volume ADSL
chipset solutions, we're especially encouraged by the team's work to verify and prove
semiconductor interoperability within the physical layer framework of T1.413 Issue 2."
"The new world of broadband access is now truly at our fingertips," said George
Barber, vice president of TI's worldwide Broadband Access Group. "This is a
tremendous step in delivering a high-speed Internet connection. As the worldwide
leader in DSP solutions, TI is dedicated to speeding the deployment of affordable
ADSL CPE worldwide. The programmability and software upgradeability of our
DMT-based chipset solution enabled TI to rapidly achieve interoperability. As new
versions of ADSL become standards-based, TI will once again strive for interoperability
across these silicon platforms."
About Alcatel
A world leader in telecommunications systems and equipment, as well as related cables
and components activities, Alcatel operates in over 130 countries. Alcatel provides
complete solutions and services to operators, service providers, enterprises and
consumers, ranging from backbone networks to user terminals. For more information,
visit Alcatel on Internet: alcatel.com.
About ADI
With sales of $1.2 billion for fiscal 1997, Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) is a leading
manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital
signal processing applications. Analog's Communications Division focuses on products
for wireless and broadband wired communications applications. Headquartered in
Norwood, Massachusetts, the company employs approximately 7,500 people
worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina,
Ireland, the Philippines and Taiwan. For more information, visit the Analog Devices
Web site at analog.com.
About Texas Instruments
The worldwide leader and pioneer in digital signal processing solutions since 1982,
Texas Instruments provides innovative DSP and mixed signal/analog technologies to
more than 30,000 customers in the computer, wireless communications, networking,
Internet, consumer, digital motor control and mass storage markets worldwide. To help
customers get to market faster, TI offers easy-to-use development tools and extensive
software and hardware support, further complemented by close to 300 third-party DSP
solutions providers.
Texas Instruments Incorporated is a global semiconductor company and the world's
leading designer and supplier of digital signal processing solutions, the engines driving the
digitization of electronics. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company's businesses
also include materials and controls, educational and productivity solutions, and digital
imaging. The company has manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN.
More information is located on the World Wide Web at ti.com
Please refer all reader inquiries to:
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Semiconductor Group, SC-98067
Literature Response Center
P.O. Box 172228
Denver, CO 80217
1-800-477-8924, ext. 4500
SOURCE Texas Instruments
/CONTACT: Mark Burnworth of Alcatel, 972-996-5986,
mark_a_burnworth@aud.alcatel.com or Steve Hill of Edelman Public Relations
Worldwide for Analog Devices, 212-704-8173, shill@edelman.com or Marcia Pickett
of Texas Instruments, 972-480-2050, mpickett@ti.com/
/Web site: alcatel.com
/Web site: analog.com
/Web site: ti.com
(ALA ADI TXN) >>>> |
