In the network processor semiconductor chip market, software continues to be a major differentiator for gaining true competitive advantages. This trend revealed itself again with today's announcement that Zhone Technologies, Inc., selected the Agere Systems Advanced PayloadPlus APP300 network processor for use in Zhone's Very-Fast-Rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL-2) equipment.

Because Agere Systems' network processors can be programmed with 80 percent fewer lines of code than competing products, and that code can easily be migrated across multiple product portfolios, Agere customers can save nine months in software development and get their products to market quicker with an overall lower cost of ownership than would be otherwise possible.

Agere's APP300 can pump information at rates exceeding two Gigabits per second (Gbits/s) within VDSL2 systems. Such systems have the potential to haul data at up to 100 Megabits per second (Mbits/s)-- four times faster than the fastest ADSL2+ (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) transport rate-over regular copper phone lines. Approved as an industry standard by the International Telecommunications Union in May, VDSL2 is the latest DSL technology to enter the telecom scene.



"VDSL2 is an enabling technology required to provide the universal bandwidth needed to deliver triple play services including VoIP, IPTV and HDTV applications," said David Markowitz, vice president of marketing with Zhone. "We recognize the need for high performing and flexible traffic processors and have chosen Agere's network processor to meet the challenging and evolving requirements in this space."

Using a single Agere APP300, customers can reach per-board port densities exceeding 48 channels of VDSL2 service-twice as many as competing chips. The higher the number of channels, the larger the amount of bandwidth that can be handled, supporting high-speed and graphics-heavy video signals. And the more channels squeezed into the same size chip, the lower the overall silicon and system costs. Agere's APP300 chip also can enable simultaneous use of up to six High Definition Television (HDTV) signals per modem port, compared with no more than two using ADSL2+ technology.

"Agere has built a network processor with both the horsepower and affordable price points required for the access market," said Mark Cieri, director of new business development in Agere's Telecom Division. "Agere's APP300 delivers the necessary performance and flexibility required to meet the challenging requirements demanded in VDSL2 applications."

Zhone will use Agere's line card traffic processing technology in its Multi-Access Line Concentrator (MALC). The MALC supports a range of services including ADSL2+, Internet Protocol Television, HDTV, voice over Internet Protocol, and Plain Old Telephone Service.

Zhone has more than 400 customers on six continents including some of the world's largest service providers. Earlier this month, Zhone completed its acquisition of Paradyne Networks, Inc., a leading provider of triple play broadband loop carrier and Ethernet access equipment. Zhone is the number one provider of Broadband Loop Carrier products which has been identified by analysts as the fastest growing segment of the DSL access market.

The DSL market is growing at 18 percent annually, according to Infonetics Research. The global market reached 100 million subscribers in the beginning of 2005 and is expected to grow to over 190 million subscribers by 2008.

Agere's APP300, announced earlier this year, embodies a key engine within Agere's TrueAdvantage Converged Access Solutions, also announced earlier this year. These solutions include semiconductor chips, open source software, reference designs and development platforms.

Agere's TrueAdvantage Wireline DSL Solutions are available for customers today. For more information on Agere's TrueAdvantage Solutions, please visit http://www.agere.com/trueadvantage.