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AMD Announces Silicon Solutions for Home Networking
--AMD Is The First Semiconductor Company to Announce Silicon Solutions Enabling Home Networking Over Existing In-Home Telephone Wire Utilizing Tut's HomeRun--
SUNNYVALE, CA -- April 27, 1998 -- AMD today announced it will license Tut Systems' HomeRun technology and extend its PCnet family of Ethernet controllers as the foundation for a low-cost, easy-to-deploy home network. AMD plans to produce the single-chip, integrated device by the end of the year. The single-chip integrated controller will build upon a current implementation of an AMD PCnet Ethernet controller and Tut's discrete gate array and analog front-end, which are currently available. AMD is the first semiconductor company to announce an integrated silicon solution to connect multiple PCs and appliances and share high-speed Internet access within the home over existing telephone wiring.
With the agreement, AMD joins Microsoft Corp. in endorsing Tut Systems' HomeRun technology as the preferred solution for home networking over existing, in-home telephone wiring while the same wire is being used for normal telephone service. The HomeRun-based platform will enable multiple PCs, peripherals and other intelligent devices to simultaneously connect to each other at speeds over 1 Mbps and share a single high-speed Internet access connection to the home. AMD, Microsoft and Tut Systems are working with other industry leaders to ensure compatibility, acceptance and standardization of HomeRun-based home networking solutions.
"AMD has a proven track record of shifting emerging technologies into high-volume markets that have significantly shaped the growth of enterprise networking," said Atiq Raza, executive vice president and chief technical officer of AMD. "With expertise in personal computing, communications and networking, AMD is uniquely positioned to extend the network beyond the enterprise and into the home, providing consumers with an enriched computing experience. Our partnership with Tut allows AMD to quickly deliver a home networking solution to market and accelerate the creation and adoption of an industry-wide standard to bring this exciting technology into every home."
"Tut is an industry leader in delivering high-speed solutions over copper wire, while AMD is a leading provider of networking and copper-based telephony ICs," said Sal D'Auria, president and chief executive officer for Tut Systems. "With AMD's commitment to this market, the industry will now have a high-performance, low-cost platform for interconnecting the increasingly diverse array of intelligent consumer appliances found in the home. We can expect to connect TV-based browsers, Internet telephones, and IP cameras to each other, to multiple PCs and to the Internet as easily as we connect an extension telephone today. This is a perfect marriage of technologies to deliver a home networking solution that will be inexpensive, but fast, secure and truly easy to install."
As stated in a prior release, "Part of the power of computers is the ability to share information and ideas, yet there's no easy way to do that in today's consumer market," noted Steve Madigan, senior director of the Windows operating systems division at Microsoft. "We want to make it easy for consumers to use Windows and related products throughout the home. Tut's HomeRun has demonstrated an ability to drive data at high speeds over complex copper connections, providing a fast, easy and inexpensive in-home network for existing and new Microsoft products, such as Windows 95 and Windows 98."
The Market for Home Networking
According to Dataquest, the multi-PC home is the fastest growing segment of the PC market in the US. Analysts estimate the United States has more than 15 million homes with two or more PCs, with the number expected to double over the next two years. Most of these PCs will need to share data, peripherals and high-speed Internet access. Additionally, it is estimated that over 15 million non-PC devices will be accessing the Internet in the next five years, according to Jupiter Communications. To leverage this proliferation of intelligent consumer devices requires the availability of an easy-to-deploy, low-cost home networking solution.
"We are excited that AMD is entering the home networking market," said Jeremey Donovan, industry analyst at Dataquest. "AMD is a proven leader in both the enterprise networking and telecom arena. AMD's commitment to extending its expertise beyond the enterprise to the home is a significant step in making this technology a reality in the near future."
"AMD is uniquely positioned to leverage its expertise in voice and data to enable solutions that will allow consumers to fully utilize the powerful capabilities PCs offer in a networked environment," said Bob Merritt, senior analyst at Semico Research Corporation. "With home networking technology, consumers have greater flexibility to share data, play games interactively and share high-speed Internet access. AMD's weight behind this market is a key component in making home networking widely available and a standard in the industry."
About HomeRun
HomeRun products and technology create a 1 Mbps LAN using existing in-home telephone wiring. HomeRun supports the complex, random-tree type of wiring typically found in the home and does not require any hubs or new Category 5 wiring. HomeRun also requires no special terminations, filters or splitters. It uses only the single pair of existing phone wires to make its connection, and operates concurrently with any normal telephone service that might be using those same wires. HomeRun also co-exists with the new splitterless Universal ADSL standard. HomeRun is fully compatible with the Ethernet MAC layer standard (IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD with a new physical layer) and meets applicable FCC regulatory requirements. HomeRun products include both stand-alone HomeRun Adapters for use with any existing device having a 10BASE-T interface and PC network interface cards (NICs) for direct connection of PCs to the in-home telephone wire.
AMD's Consumer Networking Initiative
The agreement with Tut Systems is the most recent in an ongoing initiative by AMD to play a major role in accelerating the adoption and availability of high-speed Internet access and network connectivity for the consumer mass market. Earlier this year, AMD joined the Universal Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) Working Group, a consortium including other PC industry leaders such as Microsoft, Compaq and Intel, as well as telecommunications leaders such as Alcatel, Ameritech, Tut and Bell Atlantic. The goal of the Universal ADSL Working Group (UAWG) is to propose a simplified version of ADSL that will deliver to consumers high-speed modem communications over existing copper phone lines based on an open, interoperable standard.
AMD also recently announced it would begin producing ADSL chipsets based on Discrete Multitone (DMT) solutions. AMD plans to deliver these products in the second half of 1998.
About AMD's PCnet Family
AMD currently offers the broadest family of Fast Ethernet controllers available in the industry. AMD most recently announced its PCnet-FAST+, a highly-integrated Fast Ethernet controller, featuring advanced network and power management capabilities maximizing network performance while significantly reducing the cost of enterprise computing. The high level of integration offered by the PCnet-FAST+ controller enables OEMs to reduce system cost and shorten time to market with value-added products. The PCnet-FAST+ device is supported by AMD's recently announced Managed Performance Portfolio of advanced power and network management technologies. The Managed Performance Portfolio is provided without charge to PCnet customers. AMD also offers its PCnet-Mobile, a wireless LAN media access controller designed to comply with the IEEE 802.11 standard.
About Tut Systems
Founded in 1991, Tut Systems is a leading xDSL company delivering Internet access solutions for the local loop, enterprise and home environments. The company's products leverage the enormous potential of the underutilized copper wiring infrastructure by delivering high-speed data on unconditioned pairs. Tut's product portfolio includes the XL line for campus and high-rise networks, the Expresso System for high-speed Internet access over local loop networks, and the innovative HomeRun family for home networking. The company's products are available directly and through various VARs and manufacturing partners. The company is headquartered in Pleasant Hill, California.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the timely completion of the new production line, the effect of changing economic conditions, and such risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the company's SEC reports.
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