To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (6245 ) 6/4/1999 3:23:00 AM From: SafetyAgentMan Respond to
Mentat Begins Shipment of SkyX Gateway XR10; Internet-Over-Satellite
Performance Solution Now Available to End Users
Business Wire - June 02, 1999 11:30
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 2, 1999--Mentat(R) Inc. Wednesday
announced that it has started commercial shipments of the SkyX(TM)
Gateway XR10, a ready-to-install hardware solution for enhancing the
performance of Internet access over satellites.
"Mentat's goal has been to deliver what users have long desired, a
drop-in solution to the limitations of the Internet protocols when used
over satellite-based networks," explained Kay Guyer, president of
Mentat. "We are pleased that the product has received an immediate and
overwhelming response from Internet service providers, corporate users,
and satellite fleet operators."
Loral Skynet(R) (NYSE:LOR), a satellite-services company based in
Bedminster, N.J., tested the SkyX Gateway XR10 on its own Telstar 5
satellite and experienced 10-times-faster file transfers under clear-
sky conditions.
According to James Lee, manager of R&D at INTELSAT, "As part of its
development of a Ku-band interactive multimedia service via two-way
satellite links, INTELSAT has been testing the XR10 over the INTELSAT
satellite system via a contract effort with the Echostar Data Networks
(NASDAQ:DISH)."
ISPs are increasingly using satellites to provide Internet access,
especially to rural communities and developing nations. Businesses, as
well, are finding satellites useful to connect remote offices to their
corporate networks.
However, because the TCP/IP protocols are not designed for satellite
network conditions, throughput has generally been restricted to only a
fraction of the available bandwidth.
The SkyX Gateway overcomes these limitations by transparently replacing
TCP with a highly efficient protocol optimized for satellite conditions.
The SkyX Gateway system offers vastly improved performance while
remaining entirely transparent to the end user and fully compatible with
the Internet infrastructure.
The XR10 is designed for satellite links of up to 10 Mbps and includes
two Ethernet ports for easy installation into any standard TCP/IP
network.
EchoStar Data Networks (formerly Media4) has begun testing the SkyX
Gateway XR10 in conjunction with a two-way interactive terminal
developed with INTELSAT support.
About Mentat
Mentat is the leading provider of high-performance networking solutions
to the computer and satellite industries. Based in Los Angeles, Mentat
was founded in 1987 and is employee owned. Mentat has licensed its
networking software to operating-systems vendors throughout North
America, Europe and Japan, including Apple, Ascend, Compaq,
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Motorola, Novell, Sony and Sun.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional company or product information, contact
Mentat Inc., 1145 Gayley Ave., Suite 315, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024;
telephone: 310/208-2650, ext. 31, fax: 310/208-3724. Readers can also
access information through the company's Web site at
mentat.com .
Mentat is a registered trademark of Mentat Inc. SkyX, "Performance
Networking," and the Mentat logo are trademarks of Mentat Inc. Other
names may be trademarks and are the properties of their respective
owners.
