Initiative - dubbed UXPi - to spearhead common 10Gbps physical-layer standard
SAN JOSE, Calif., October 6, 2003 - Five major IC companies including Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ: AMCC), International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM), Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE: IFX), Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) and Xilinx, Inc., (NASDAQ: XLNX) today announced the creation and promotion of the Unified 10Gbps Physical-Layer Initiative (UXPi), a program of the IEEE-ISTO. The goal of UXPi is to advocate a common 10Gbps physical-layer standard across multiple markets, to simplify and accelerate the implementation of next generation 10Gbps systems. A common physical standard will allow developers to significantly reduce the costs and risks normally associated with developing next generation systems.
The work of UXPi will complement ongoing and upcoming standardization efforts by other industry bodies such as the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF). "10Gbps interfaces will form the basis for future high-bandwidth connections in chip-to-chip, chip-to-optical module and backplane applications. As a leader in the standardization of interfaces, OIF supports the expansion of interoperability benefits," said Joe Berthold, president of OIF. "What UXPi is proposing is consistent with the OIF CEI project. These promoting companies are all members of the OIF and have been strong contributors to the CEI project. We look forward to collaborating with UXPi in working towards our mutual goals."
Industry Trend Towards Serial Connectivity
The broad industry trend toward serial connectivity is being driven as a means to reduce system costs, simplify system design, and provide scalability to meet new bandwidth requirements. Today, standard bodies are defining 3.125Gbps and 5-6Gbps, and 10Gbps serial standards. As these bodies begin to solidify 10Gbps communication standards, the need for a unified, compatible physical layer is critical. A common standard will address challenges such as more severe attenuation and signal interference, which arise as 10Gbps digital signaling enters the RF domain. And just as important, will ensure interoperability across multiple markets and products.
"Whether in enterprise or carrier applications, it's clear that the market for serial interfaces has great price elasticity: lower costs can stimulate demand. From the eyes of system vendors, standards are desirable in that they enable multiple component vendors, control costs, and mitigate supplier risk," said Allan Armstrong, director of communications semiconductors at analyst firm RHK, Inc. "Combining the forces of five industry leaders, the UXPi consortium plans to focus the industry on 10Gbps interface standards and drive multiple market segments to a common vision."
UXPi is laying the groundwork for common 10Gbps standard by solidifying the physical/electrical layer of the 10Gbps chip-to-chip and backplane interface - participating in, supporting, and supplementing the efforts of standards bodies, which are often more focused on their respective markets and on defining the upper, logical/digital layers of the 10 Gbps standards. The efforts of UXPi will enable standards bodies to focus on developing the protocols necessary to serve the unique needs of their respective markets, rather than focusing on the lower layers defining and testing a 10Gbps physical standard.
UXPi is organized as a program under the IEEE-ISTO, which provides a legal and administrative platform on which UXPi operations can progress. UXPi plans to work with numerous contributing and adopting companies to develop, refine and make the specification available. Additional information about UXPi membership, its activities and progress is available at www.uxpi.org.
About Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
AMCC designs, develops, manufactures, and markets high-performance, high-bandwidth silicon solutions empowering intelligent wide area networks. AMCC utilizes a combination of digital, mixed-signal and high-frequency analog design expertise coupled with system-level knowledge and multiple silicon process technologies to offer integrated circuit products that enable the transport of voice and data over fiber optic networks. The company's system solution portfolio includes switch fabric, traffic management, network processor, framer/mapper, PHY and PMD devices that address the high-performance needs of the evolving intelligent optical network. AMCC's corporate headquarters are located in San Diego, California. Sales and engineering offices are located throughout the world. For further information about AMCC, please visit our website at: http://www.amcc.com.
About IBM Microelectronics
IBM Microelectronics is a key contributor to IBM's role as the world's premier information technology supplier. IBM Microelectronics develops, manufactures and markets state-of-the-art semiconductor, ASIC and interconnect technologies, products and services. Its superior integrated solutions can be found in many of the world's best-known electronic brands.
IBM is a recognized innovator in the chip industry, having been first with advances like more power-efficient copper wiring in place of aluminum, and faster silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and silicon germanium transistors. These and other innovations have contributed to IBM's standing as the number one U.S. patent holder for 10 consecutive years. More information about IBM Microelectronics can be found at: http://www.ibm.com/chips.
About Infineon Technologies
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon Technologies operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 employees worldwide. Infineon Technologies is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at http://www.infineon.com
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design 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 www.ti.com.
About Xilinx
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) is the worldwide leader of programmable logic solutions. Additional information about Xilinx is available at www.xilinx.com.
About IEEE-ISTO
The Industry Standards and Technology Organization (ISTO) is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit organization affiliated with the IEEE. It was formed in 1999 and providing legal, administrative and best practices support to UXPi and 15 other standards related organizations. IEEE-ISTO serves its program clients by ensuring Anti-Trust compliance and allowing them to concentrate on their technical goals, rather than administrative tasks. Additional information about IEEE-ISTO is available at
www.ieee-isto.org.
Forward Looking Statements
The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the products discussed in this press release are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risk that the products would not be successfully or timely developed, completed or manufactured or achieve market acceptance, risks relating to general economic conditions, as well as the risks and uncertainties set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2002, and in other filings of the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and AMCC does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
