---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SMCC and SynOptics Collaborate on ATM SunFLASH Vol 51 #9 March 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SMCC AND SYNOPTICS COLLABORATE ON ATM SynOptics to Provide First Low-Cost ATM Card for SPARC Systems MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - March 1, 1993 - Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) and SynOptics Communications, Inc., today announced they have formed a technology partnership agreement under which the two companies will develop asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology for future products. ATM is an emerging open network industry standard. This agreement allows the two companies to work quickly and in parallel to ensure rapid time to market, lower costs and technology sharing as ATM matures. The first fruit of this collaboration will be a low-cost SBus card from SynOptics to attach Sun(TM) SPARC"(R)/Solaris"(R) workstations or servers to an ATM local area network. ATM is the most powerful high-speed network technology for the large-scale, client-server networking of the future. SMCC has expertise in designing ATM segmentation and reassembly (SAR) technology, which is at the heart of an ATM interface. SynOptics has physical layer technology for 155-megabit-per-second (Mb/s) transmission over fiber, shielded twisted pair and Category 5 unshielded twisted pair copper wire. The 155 Mb/s ATM SBus adapter card, to be developed, manufactured, and sold by SynOptics, will enable SynOptics' local area ATM switches to directly connect to Sun SPARC/Solaris systems. The card will conform to ATM Forum interoperability specifications to ensure multi-vendor compatibility. Both companies have made significant investments in additional ATM technology that may be shared over time through this agreement. SynOptics, which has been active in ATM development for more than three years, will be making other physical layer ATM transmission technology available to SMCC. In addition to its SAR work, SMCC has invested in protocol development for ATM networks, which it plans to share with SynOptics. Both SynOptics and SMCC are principal members of the ATM Forum, and both are active with other ATM standards bodies as well. "This partnership with SMCC provides another excellent vehicle for SynOptics to advance the development of ATM and aggressively pursue the commercial realization of this emerging local area networking technology," said Ronald V. Schmidt, senior vice president and chief technology officer for SynOptics. "ATM is the future of networking for workstations for the rest of the century and beyond. We are committed to enabling this technology and bringing it to the desktop as soon as possible," said Curt Wozniak, vice president of engineering for SMCC. "This agreement with SynOptics is an example of our commitment to ensure low-priced, high-performance ATM solutions will be available to support the accelerating power of our systems over time." Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) is the world's leading supplier of open client-server computing solutions. With headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., SMCC is an operating company of Sun Microsystems, Inc. SynOptics Communications is a leading supplier of networking products and management systems to organizations worldwide. SynOptics delivers the network fabric that enables organizations to build enterprise-wide network systems today and multi-enterprise networks in the future. The network fabric is built with intelligent hubs that link all types of computers, integrate bridges, routers and switches as needed and provide common, integrated network management. The result is an underlying, flexible structure that provides high-speed network communications. The company, founded in 1985, is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. and has approximately 45 offices worldwide. SynOptics is publicly traded over the counter under the NASDAQ symbol SNPX. # # # Sun Microsystems, Sun Microsystems Computer Corp., Sun, and the Sun logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. SynOptics Communications is a registered trademark of SynOptics Communications Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD Compliant logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. are licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other products are referred to herein by the trademarks as designated by the companies who market those products. Non-press inquiries should be directed to Brian Biles (brian.biles@Corp) 415-336-2056. Press inquiries should be directed to Junne Moy (junne.moy@Corp) 415-336 0544. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu, ftp.uu.net, sunsite.unc.edu, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@Sun.COM. +1 305 351 4909.