Through a partnership with Cicada Semiconductor, VIA Networking introduces the market-leading Velocity™ line of Gigabit Ethernet Controllers, delivering top performance in a fully featured single chip PCI solution

Taipei, Taiwan, 3 September, 2003 - VIA Networking Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of network solutions, today announced the Velocity line of Gigabit Ethernet Controllers for the next generation of high speed networks, satisfying even the most intense data transfer requirements.

Supporting 10/100/1000Mbps triple-speed operation, the Velocity line of controllers enables leading-edge high throughput performance in a low power, highly integrated package, making them ideal for a diverse range of PC client or server LAN on Motherboard (LOM) applications.

Integrating Cicada’s patented SimpliPHY™ transceiver technology, VIA Networking’s Velocity Controllers feature best-in-class narrow band noise tolerance, providing trouble free deployment in “real-world” network, cabling, and system situations. The controllers also feature an adaptive interrupt scheme to reduce interrupts made to the processor to minimize host-side CPU utilization, so enhancing overall system performance.

The VIA Networking Velocity line of Gigabit Ethernet Controllers also includes VIA’s sophisticated GigaCheck™ link management software, integrating Cicada’s powerful VeriPHY™ cable diagnostics suite that enables comprehensive network analysis and status reporting, greatly simplifying network management and troubleshooting.

“As the market makes the transition from 10/100 to Gigabit Ethernet, networks can make full use of the latest PC advances,” commented Jerry Sun, Special Assistant to the President, VIA Networking Technologies Inc. “With the Velocity line of Gigabit Ethernet Controllers, and our strong partnership with Cicada, we feel that VIA Networking is in an excellent position to provide customers with a high performance, full featured Gigabit solution”

“The release of the Velocity Controllers by VIA Networking is another strong endorsement by an established industry leader of Cicada’s widely deployed SimpliPHY transceiver technology,” commented David McLean, President and CEO Cicada Semiconductor. “Incorporating our proven SimpliPHY technology, the Velocity controllers feature unbeatable PHY performance, which is crucial for enabling the rapid, low cost transition to Gigabit networking.”

About VIA Networking Velocity Controllers

The VIA Networking VT6120, VT6121, and VT6122 Velocity Controllers support 10/100/1000 Mbps triple-speed and full/half-duplex capability at all speeds, and the integrated Cicada PHY is fully compliant with IEEE 802.3 (10BASE-T), 802.3u (100BASE-TX), and 802.3ab (1000BASE-T) standards. Integrating a feature rich MAC and Cicada’s patented SimpliPHY™ transceiver, the Velocity Controllers are optimized for systems with a low power, low profile design. With full management support, the VT6120 and VT6122 enables Gigabit Ethernet on the PC with their 32-bit PCI architecture targeting the add-in card and LOM markets, while the VT6121 caters to the enterprise market with 64-bit PCI compatibility.

For more information please go to: http://www.vntek.com/en/products/velocity/velocity.jsp

Pricing is available upon request.



About Cicada Semiconductor

Cicada Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, manufactures, and markets DSP and mixed-signal integrated circuits for the communications industry to send information faster and farther over existing copper cabling and system backplanes within Local, Wide and Storage Area Networks. Already recognized among an elite group of world-class digital communications players with a rare combination of digital and analog design experience, Cicada’s mission is to be the worldwide leader in the design and development of high performance digital communications ICs. Now in high volume production with worldwide sales and applications support, Cicada’s products include the SimpliPHY™ Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Series. For more information, go to http://www.cicada-semi.com