Softcom Accelerates Internet Backbone Access

Business Wire, July 8, 1998

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 1998--

New Company Integrates Software Functions Into Silicon To Increase Network Performance, Speed Partner's Time-To-Market With Complete System

A new company that is focused on clearing the Internet/Intranet backbone bottleneck while dramatically reducing the cost of the networking equipment is debuting today at GigNet Expo in Boston.

Softcom Microsystems, based in Fremont, Calif., is introducing the industry's first network accelerator, which enables the creation of Internet access equipment that delivers up to 50 times the price/performance of existing products (See the news announcement: "Softcom Introduces The First Network Accelerator").

Softcom Microsystems was formed in 1996 to accelerate the inevitable, fundamental shift in value in the networking industry from software dependency on general-use RISC processors to silicon advancement and integration of functions executed in hardware.

This change is driven by the ongoing market need for faster, cheaper networking equipment, catalyzed by the dramatic increase of Internet usage worldwide, and enabled by advancements in semiconductor process technologies to deep sub-micron geometries.

Softcom also sees a key requirement of any company wishing success in the highly competitive and lucrative network infrastructure market is timely delivery of new technologies and products. Market opportunities come and go rapidly, and companies must be able to move quickly and effectively to achieve success.

These market forces are the cornerstones of Softcom's strategy. "We've applied this thinking to address the bottleneck that exists in the critical path between the many baseband access products that are flooding the market and the broadband backbone," said Tony Stelliga, president and CEO of Softcom. "The result is a high performance specialized processor that far exceeds existing performance and cost models, which is delivered within a completely integrated subsystem that can be designed into products in weeks rather than months or years."

"Every serious internetworking vendor is investing millions in developing complex ASICs to tackle traffic performance and control issues at layer three," said Melinda LeBaron, research director at Gartner Group. "Just as with layer two switching silicon, this technology is evolving from this expensive and lengthy ASIC process to the availability of `internetworking processors' from companies like Softcom, which provide the requisite features but dramatically cut cost, time to market, and R&D."

The Softcom accelerator can be applied to many product types, include Gigabit Ethernet/Layer 3 switches for enterprise backbones, digital subscriber link access multiplexers (DSLAMs) for commercial and residential Internet access, and Internet backbone routers.

Softcom's accelerator is in an industry-standard graphics card form factor called the GigaBlade(TM). The heart of the GigaBlade is the broadband access processor, which is called the SoftcomEngine(TM).

A single chip device, this processor enables network equipment vendors to cost-effectively accelerate network systems to deliver full-line rate conversion and forwarding between LAN and access traffic and the high-speed cell- or packet-based Internet backbone. Complementing the solution is the BladeRunner(TM) application software, which intertwines the SoftcomEngine within the GigaBlade and provides industry standard interoperability.

In all, this total solution provides Layer 3 switch and DSLAM vendors with immediate, high performance connection to OC-3, multi-OC-3 and OC-12 SONET backbones. It includes software application modules for supporting LAN emulation, Packet over SONET, IP over ATM and flow protocols. OC-48 capability is in development.

By using the SoftcomEngine, vendors can achieve full OC-12 cell rate performance for 64Byte packets, which far exceeds the performance of existing products. Moreover, the processor's robust packet processing capabilities and its ultra-high integration enables dramatic cost reductions over the same existing products. Given these performance gains and cost reductions, a price/performance gain of 50 times is achievable.

About Softcom

Softcom Microsystems is privately held, backed with venture funding from Sequoia Capital and Sevin Rosen Funds. For more information, call 510/497-3960, fax 510/353-0533, or visit Softcom's website: www.softcom-micro.com.

    CONTACT: Softcom Microsystems
              Melissa Crowton, 510/497-3962
              melissa@softcom-micro.com
              or
              Acuitive (agency for Softcom)
              Tim Helms, 925/606-6936
              thelms@acuitive.com