Paradyne Adds New Patents to Its Portfolio - Paradyne Networks - Company Business and Marketing

At the Forefront of the Emerging DSL Industry

Over the past several years, Paradyne has been a primary innovator in DSL technologies, developing the key components that make high-speed Internet access and network communications possible over copper phone wires. The company has more than 80 DSL-related patents either issued or pending, many of them representing fundamental enabling technology that makes high-speed DSL data transmission practical for both providers and corporate private networks.

One of Paradyne's widely recognized patents in this field is the Distributed Trellis Encoder (Patent No. 4,677,625), a critical component needed to suppress noise in DSL systems. The company's DSL intellectual property also encompasses essential ancillary technologies, such as the DSL Access Device Management Information Base (Patent No. 5,889,470), an important tool for DSL network management, diagnostics and optimization.

"Paradyne has an excellent reputation when it comes to standards-based DSL technologies," says Bremer. "Our Hotwire GranDSLAM multiservices DSLAM (DSL Access Multiplexer) is a prime example. It fully embraces most of the standards of the DSL industry, but goes far beyond them in offering our own unique technologies that put them on the leading edge."

The next-generation Hotwire GranDSLAM system enables service providers to offer the widest possible range of business and consumer broadband services -- including ATM, frame relay and physical layer technologies -- with the ideal combination of speed, function, reach and scalability.

One of the Hotwire GranDSLAM's most advanced features is based on Paradyne's MVL (Multiple Virtual Lines) technology. "With MVL technology you could have four PCs in your home hooked up to the Internet with high-speed access and your phone service going at the same time," said Bremer.

Frame Relay, Service Level Management and a Commitment to R&D Paradyne has a significant number of patents in the frame relay field, particularly focused in network service level management technologies that control costs and optimize performance. These concepts play a major role in Paradyne's award-winning FrameSaver product, the industry's first frame relay access system that provides IS managers with the tools to diagnose, locate and fix network performance problems in real time.

A recent patent issued to the company in this arena allows permanent virtual circuit (PVC) diagnostics such as loopback and pattern tests to be run without disrupting other data flowing over the circuit (U.S. Patent No. 5,898,674, Non-Disruptive End-to-End Diagnostics Through a Frame-Relay Network). This allows Frame Relay Service Providers to troubleshoot PVCs without impacting customer traffic.

Practical, commercial-level technologies such as these are the result of extensive research and development programs that, according to Bremer, keep the company out in front of the competition.

"Our R&D capabilities include expertise in all of the related disciplines," Bremer says. "Many of our competitors purchase the technology components they need, without really adding any value to it. Their R&D groups are often quite new, whereas we've got a long, rich history in data communications. As they begin to manufacture products, they're running into problems we learned how to avoid years ago -- some of us have been here for 25 years, applying a wealth of knowledge to leading edge products today."