Press Release:

Teradyne and Accelerant Networks Deliver the Industry's First 6.25 Gb/s Backplane Reference Platform

Backplane system solution integrates Accelerant's AN5500 backplane transceiver and Teradyne's VHDM-HSD™ connector

Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE:TER) Connection Systems Division (TCS), a leading provider of high-performance interconnect and electronic manufacturing services, and Accelerant Networks, Inc., the leading developer of intelligent high-speed backplane communication transceivers, today announced the industry's first 6.25 Gb/s backplane reference platform. This reference design delivers an optimized backplane solution - taking into account the behavior of each element in the backplane system and how it interacts with the others. Designed from the ground up as a complete system, the reference design will eliminate design obstacles and signal integrity guesswork from the system design cycle.

The reference design integrates Accelerant's AN5500 5-port, 6.25 Gb/s backplane transceiver with Teradyne's VHDM-HSD™ connector to offer error-free operation over 32 inches of FR4. Embedded software enables modeling and characterization of the entire backplane system.

"Today's system designers are trying to achieve tomorrow's bandwidth requirements," said Tom Pitten, development engineering manager at Teradyne Connection Systems. "Our collaboration with Accelerant Networks combines two sets of leading-edge technologies to deliver a complete system that meets these demanding data rates."

"The design of high-performance backplanes requires a new approach. Working with Teradyne to look at an entire backplane channel as one system and using their high-bandwidth interconnect has enabled us to provide a solution that can help break these bandwidth bottlenecks," said Jim Tavacoli, vice president of business development at Accelerant Networks.

The AN5500 is the industry's first 5-port, 6.25 Gb/s backplane transceiver with continuously adaptive equalization. The AN5500 integrates clock and data recovery, an encoder, scrambler, and a rich set of deskew and trunking options.

Teradyne's VHDM-HSD™ connector was developed in 1999 as the first press fit connector optimized for differential architectures and currently has billions of pins installed in communications, storage, server, and other high-end equipment, operating at speeds up to 5 Gb/s and higher. VHDM-HSD™ is available in 5, 6, and 8-row versions.

About the 6.25 Gb/s Reference Platform
Teradyne Connection Systems and Accelerant Networks have jointly developed the 6.25 Gb/s backplane reference platform. The reference design hardware consists of a VHDM-HSD™ backplane in FR4 with a maximum of 32-inch traces, two line cards based on the AN5500, SMA and power supply cables. The platform connects to a PC to enable software access and control, and requires an external power supply. The reference design package includes: schematics, layout, models, and a rich set of software tools that aid designers in evaluation, optimization, and characterization of each element throughout the backplane system. Never before has the developer been offered such detailed access and visibility to backplane channel information in all phases, from development to production. Detailed information about the platform can be obtained at: www.teradyne.com/vhdmhsd or www.accelerant.net/products/refdesplatform.

About Teradyne Connection Systems
Teradyne Connection Systems (TCS), a division of Boston-based Teradyne, Inc., provides high-performance system solutions to industry leading OEMs, with printed circuit boards, high-speed, high-density connectors, multi-gigabit backplane assemblies and complete systems integration and test. Teradyne's high-technology components and electronic manufacturing services are used by manufacturers of communications and computing systems central to building networking infrastructure. For more information visit www.teradyne.com/tcs.

About Accelerant Networks
Accelerant Networks, the leading developer of intelligent, high-speed backplane communication transceivers, develops communication ICs that deliver extensible, high-bandwidth networking system connectivity solutions. The company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with sales and application offices in Silicon Valley and Boston, as well as a nationwide network of sales representatives. For more information, contact Kelli Caldwell at 503.439.3450, or visit www.accelerant.net.