Harris & Jeffries, Inc. Adds Motorola MPC850/860SAR Software Device Driver to Its Fast-Start Product Line

Business Wire, July 14, 1998

DEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 1998--

Device Drivers, Integrated with Its Industry-leading Soft-ATM(TM)

Asynchronous Transfer Mode Software Subsystems, Helps Equipment Manufacturers Reduce Risk, Shorten Time-to-Market

Harris & Jeffries, Inc. (H&J), a leading developer of networking protocol software subsystems, announced today a software device driver for the Motorola MPC850SAR and MPC860SAR PowerQUICC(TM) communications microprocessors. The new software device driver package is pre-integrated with H&J's Soft-ATM(TM) line of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) software subsystems.

The new software device driver package -- the first in a series that H&J will release for ATM and frame relay-specific silicon solutions -- can help network equipment manufacturers reduce development risk and expedite time-to-market for new products. Typically it requires three-to-six engineering man-months to develop and integrate device drivers for the Motorola MPC860 communications microprocessor, H&J said.

Motorola's MPC860SAR communications microprocessor integrates on a single chip a PowerPC core; a system integration unit; and an independent RISC communications engine with four serial channels supporting Ethernet, 64 channels of HDLC and ATM segmentation-and-reassembly functions in internetworking and telecommunications equipment.

Segmentation-and-reassembly (SAR) chips segment data into cells for transport over ATM networks and then reassemble those cells at the termination point.

The Motorola MPC850/860SAR communications microprocessors coupled with H&J's Soft-ATM software is an excellent solution for developers of xDSL access equipment, ATM edge switch controllers and other related network equipment.

"Harris & Jeffries has a reputation for developing high-quality, high-performance software, backed-up by an excellent support organization," said Ferenc Koplyay, Motorola's MPC860SAR and MPC850 program manager. "This new integrated package will deliver that expertise to our many mutual customers, simplifying the task of developing new products built on the PowerQUICC and Soft-ATM. We look forward to working with H&J to market this solution, as well as delivering additional solutions in the future," Mr. Koplyay continued.

"ATM SAR drivers are very complicated to develop and can easily divert substantial engineering resources from a customer's product development efforts. Equipment manufacturers now benefit from having a single source for ATM software, SAR drivers and integration services. Because the software components are integrated and tested for interoperability, much of the development risk is eliminated. Additionally, having a single support organization that understands both the ATM components and the SAR drivers simplifies many of the complicated support issues that can arise when developing new products," said Benson Rosen, director of Fast-Start Services at Harris & Jeffries, Inc.

Two versions of the MPC850/860 software driver packages are available. One is fully integrated and optimized for use with H&J's Soft-ATM product line and Wind River Systems' VxWorks(TM) real-time operating system (RTOS), while the second version is designed for use with Soft-ATM and Integrated Systems Inc.'s pSOS RTOS. The company said the device driver may be ported to other RTOS' depending on customer demand.

The MPC850/860SAR driver package includes H&J's unique traces, probes and loopbacks to help developers speed integration by allowing them to monitor and test the interaction of software components in their target systems. The MPC850/860SAR driver software package can be customized by Harris & Jeffries' Fast-Start Services(TM).

Fast-Start Services is Harris & Jeffries' new custom engineering services group. Fast-Start Services provides engineering and development outsourcing assistance to network equipment vendors, OEMs and systems integrators to help them accelerate their product development. Fast-Start Services, utilizing H&J's experienced engineering resources, span a range from the most basic integration and design services to complete product development. Fast-Start Services engineers average 15 years of experience in designing and developing advanced networking products. For more information about Fast-Start Services contact Harris & Jeffries, Inc.

Pricing and Availability

The Fast-Start MPC860SAR software driver package is available from Harris & Jeffries, Inc. H&J's Fast-Start SAR drivers are priced at $20,000 to $30,000 per development license. The MPC860SAR driver package is available now. Release 2.0 which adds support for the MPC850SAR will be available in September pending availability of the MPC850SAR from Motorola.

About Harris & Jeffries, Inc.

6 Harris & Jeffries, Inc. is the industry's "ultimate" source for networking software and services. Its Soft-ATM(TM) product line includes ATM Signalling, ILMI, PNNI Routing, Classical IP over ATM, LAN Emulation Client, LAN Emulation Server, Multi Protocol over ATM-Client and MPOA-Server subsystems. The company's High-Performance Frame Relay(TM) product line includes Frame Relay Signalling, Core Services, Frame Relay-to-ATM Network Interworking and Frame Relay-to-ATM Service Interworking subsystems. The UltraLinq(TM) internetworking product line includes Connection Management Subsystem. All packages include a developer's toolkit and other facilities. H&J's source code enables networking manufacturers, OEMs and integrators to achieve fast time-to-market with technically advanced products that provide market-leading performance. H&J offers custom engineering services through its Fast-Start Services(TM) systems engineering group. H&J's products reduce development costs and complexity and are in use by over 120 major networking companies worldwide. H&J can be reached at (781) 329-3200, or by E-mail at: info@hjinc.com, or on the World Wide Web at:http://www.hjinc.com.