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Technology Stocks : Aware, Inc. - Hot or cold IPO? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael F. Donadio who wrote (6323)	5/17/1999 10:01:00 AM
From: Boplicity	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9236

DSL Beats Cable Modem in Prime-Time Internet Performance Duel; Based On Over 150,000 Performance Measurements on the Networks of At Home and Pacific Bell SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 1999--Keynote Systems, the recognized authority on Internet performance, today announced that DSL outperformed a cable modem during peak-usage evening hours in a month-long benchmark test of over 150,000 web-page downloads from 40 popular web sites. The test results also show that World Wide Web pages downloaded much slower over cable modem than over T-1 connections and that cable-modem performance deteriorated during evening hours when peak residential use of the Internet occurs. Keynote conducted the tests in the San Francisco Bay area throughout April over an asymmetric DSL connection (128/384 kbps) to SBC's Pacific Bell (NYSE:SBC) network, over a cable modem connected to the At Home network (Nasdaq:ATHM) through a cable system operated by AT&T's TCI unit (NYSE:T), and over T-1 connections supplied by AboveNet Communications (Nasdaq:ABOV), Exodus Communications (Nasdaq:EXDS), Intermedia Communications' DIGEX unit (Nasdaq:ICIX) and Savvis Communications. The median download time over DSL for the 40 web pages was 3.55 seconds in April during the hours of 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific time which are peak personal-use hours according to Nielsen/NetRatings. This result was nearly 11 percent faster than the median of 3.97 seconds over cable modem during the same period. Although cable modem outperformed DSL during business hours with a 3.68 second performance versus DSL's 4.30 seconds, cable-modem performance degraded by 8 percent during the evening hours while DSL performance improved 17 percent. Keynote also conducted the same performance measurements over four different T-1 connections which performed 36 to 48 percent faster than DSL or cable modem. Keynote's performance results for DSL, cable modem and T-1 connections during the April 1 to 30 test period are summarized in the table below (smaller numbers are better and indicate faster performance). -0- T Seconds per Web Page Performance During Peak During Change at Peak Personal Hours Business Hours Usage Time (5 pm - 11 pm) (8 am - 5 pm) Internet Connection DSL (128/384) 3.55 4.30 17 % Faster Cable Modem 3.97 3.68 8 % Slower T-1 (Typical Connection 1.83 2.36 22 % Faster At Work) T Each performance figure is the median of the individual measurements in its category with a 90-percent statistical confidence interval that does not overlap the confidence intervals of adjacent categories. Keynote has posted several graphs on its web site at keynote.com comparing DSL and cable-modem performance over several days during the test period. About Cable Modems, DSL, and T-1 Cable Modems and DSL provide Internet access at competitive prices to residential users. PCs connected to the Internet via cable modem over a TV cable share a common network at the neighborhood level. This means that as more people in a neighborhood acquire and use cable modems, overall web-page download performance in the neighborhood can deteriorate, especially during evening hours when residential use of the Internet peaks. Cable modems can support peak bandwidth of 2.8 million bits per second. DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) utilizes an existing telephone network and provides each user with a dedicated line to a central-office POP (point of presence) where the actual connection to the Internet occurs. The asymmetric version of DSL, which is typical in residential environments, supports different bandwidth depending on the direction of data flow with typical bandwidth guarantees of 128,000 bits per second for uploads and 384,000 bits per second for downloads. A T-1 connection operates over a dedicated leased line to an Internet access provider with guaranteed available bandwidth of 1.54 million bits per second. T-1 connections are typically employed in business environments to connect many users to the Internet simultaneously over the same line. About the Test Results and Methodology Keynote Systems used its automated Keynote Perspective(TM) service to measure how long it took to access and download web pages and their components via industry-standard HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), the same protocol used by the Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and Netscape (NYSE:AOL) web browsers. The tested web pages belong to the 40 web sites comprising the Keynote Business 40 Internet Performance Index which is an industry-standard metric and benchmark of the overall health and performance of the Internet that is published weekly in The Industry Standard and other leading business and trade publications. About Keynote Systems Keynote Systems is the world's leading supplier of Internet performance measurement, diagnostic and consulting services to companies that operate e-commerce web sites. The company markets Keynote Perspective, a global real-time service that measures, assures and improves the Quality of Service of e-commerce web sites around the world. The foundation of the service is an extensive network of strategically located customizable software measurement agents connected to the major Internet backbones in 90 locations worldwide plus a sophisticated operations center for collecting and disseminating Internet performance and availability data. Keynote customers include over 800 of the world's busiest and most successful e-commerce web sites and hosting companies -- including Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), CDNow (Nasdaq:CDNW), Compaq Computer (NYSE:CPQ), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO), Dell Computer (Nasdaq:DELL), DoubleClick (Nasdaq:DCLK), Exodus Communications (Nasdaq:EXDS), GeoCities (Nasdaq:GCTY), Intermedia Communications (Nasdaq:ICIX), National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM), and The SABRE Group (NYSE:TSG) -- which use the service to ensure competitiveness and improve customer satisfaction. For further information about Keynote Perspective, or to schedule a free one-week comparative performance appraisal of a web site, visit Keynote's web site at keynote.com or contact the company at Keynote Systems, Inc., 2855 Campus Drive, San Mateo, California 94403, telephone 650/522-1000, fax 650/522-1099, email info@keynote.com. Keynote, Perspective, and The Internet Performance Authority are trademarks of Keynote Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT:

To: Michael F. Donadio who wrote (6323)	5/17/1999 10:39:00 AM
From: Scrapps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9236

Michael, the portion of the line card for the Siemens EWSD central office switches TI is involved with...is in regard to the DSP as I read it. No where is the Amati name even mentioned or is there a clear claim to the G.lite solution being that of TI's. As close as they come is in this sentence from the TI news release: "The performance of TI's 'C6000 DSP allows cost-effective deployment with reduction of space, power and cost. TI's fully programmable chipset provides a future-proof solution that can be upgraded in the field via software download. The TI chip enables Siemens to accomplish the first fully integrated silicon G.Lite solution for the upcoming merger of voice and data into the media network. The Siemens-TI G.Lite implementation allows fast access to the Internet without the need for a splitter (Network Termination, NT) at the two ends of the connection." Now if we read from the Aware news release on the same switch: "BEDFORD, Mass., February 3, 1999 ¾ Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWRE), a worldwide leader in xDSL (digital subscriber line) technology for high-speed Internet access, and Siemens' Information and Communication Networks group, a worldwide leader in end-to-end solutions for voice, data and mobile communication networks and a group division of Siemens AG Berlin, Munich, Germany, today announced a strategic alliance agreement under which the companies are defining the next-generation architecture for Siemens' DSL-enabled EWSD central office switches. The Siemens EWSD switch is the most widely sold carrier-class switching system in the world. The alliance will bring together state-of-the-art techniques in DSL transmission and broadband system maintenance, and will focus specifically on integrating voice and G992.2 standard-compliant data directly onto a splitterless line interface. The integration of splitterless G992.2-compliant data transmission at the Siemens central office switch is a revolutionary step that enables the majority of installed Siemens EWSD switches and all new Siemens switches, including those in the new Powernode and Internode Series, to be easily upgraded to a complete broadband data and voice central office solution. The strategic alliance between the two communication companies calls for Aware to provide optimized, G992.2-compliant DSL system designs, software models and extensive system-level optimization services, while Siemens ICN will provide extensive system-level expertise in the integration of voice and DSL data, as well as in system maintenance. The maintenance features will support the service provider in the installation and servicing of the integrated broadband data and voice communication platform. "The strategic alliance with Aware will fulfill our vision of integrating data and voice in our switching systems to enable a complete and unified communication service suitable for mass market deployment," said Hans-Eugen Binder, president of Siemens' Wireline Networks Group. Binder added: "This integration is another example of the power of semiconductor solutions to yield high-volume consumer products and services to everybody's home at reasonable prices. Our cooperative effort will enable easy, on-demand upgrades of potentially more than 180 million installed lines worldwide, from POTS to G.Lite or equivalently G.992.2 data communication. Siemens has been preparing EWSD for this innovative step in communication technology for the last two years. With Aware's cooperation, we will complete and launch our first field applications in EWSD switches by spring this year." Then we find this in a Siemens news release: "The Siemens Information and Communication Networks Group, Munich, and Aware Inc., Bedford/Massachusetts, have concluded a strategic agreement covering alliance in the area of UDSL technology for fast subscriber access to the Internet. The UDSL digital transmission technology supports speeds in the analog subscriber access network of up to 1.5 Mbit/s. The objective of the agreement is to implement Aware's UDSL broadband technology into Siemens' EWSD and the XpressLink D products to create fast access to the Internet via the telephone line. The main market segment for UDSL technology is private Internet users. By concluding this agreement, Siemens is taking another decisive step down the road to developing the new generation of switching systems for provision of integrated voice/data services and for provision of modern xDSL based access networks." This indicates Siemens will be using the TI DSP with the Aware's UDSL technology. So where is the Amati name mentioned? I must confess I am still operating under the understanding TI has not replaced the Amati name with their own. aware.com siemens.de ti.com