Accton's New Centium Expected to be First Fast Ethernet PCI Adapter

Centium-PCI 100BASE-Tx Network Adapter Maximizes Advantages of DECchip
21140 for 100BASE-T

August 29, 1994 -- SAN JOSE, Calif.--Accton Technology Corporation
announced today that it will be using Digital Equipment Corporation's
DECchip 21140 to build the company's new Centium-PCI 100BASE-Tx fast
Ethernet adapters. Developed to conform to the emerging 100BASE-T standard
from the Engineering Task Force, the new Centium PCI adapter will be
compatible with both 10BASE-T and 100BASE-T technology, giving customers a
migration path from 10 Mbps Ethernet implementations to the new 100 Mbps
fast Ethernet standard. Accton expects to ship the Centium-PCI by the
fourth quarter of this year, making Accton one of the Ethernet NIC
manufacturers with a 100BASE-Tx solution.

"We have had tremendous success using Digital's DECchip 21040 as the basis
for our new line of PCI adapters," noted Jim Hsia, Director of Marketing
for Accton. "We expect the same reliability and performance from the
DECchip 21140. Chip features such as on-chip buffering simplify the
adapter design, reduce manufacturing costs, and still let us deliver
superior performance. We expect that our Centium-PCI adapter will be the
price performance leader in the fast Ethernet adapter category."

The new Accton Centium-PCI 100BASE-Tx adapter is a half-size PCI adapter
with two network interfaces. The Centium-PCI's RJ-45 interface supports
100 Mbps Ethernet transmission rates over Category 5 unshielded
twisted-pair cable, and a second RJ-45 interface supports conventional
10BASE-T connections over Category 3 unshielded twisted-pair cable. The
adapter also includes two LEDs. Main LEDs indicate the port selection and
port status (one dual-color LED for each port), and two additional LEDs
are provided to indicate Tx/Rx for each port.

Since the Centium-PCI adapter uses a PCI interface, it can take advantage
of the Peripheral Components Interconnect (PCI) local bus architecture.
PCI actually matches the bus speed to the host microprocessor, providing
faster throughput rates. For example, data packets can be transferred at
rates from 50 to 100 MHz, depending on the CPU. The PCI architecture is
also independent of the processor, so it can optimize throughput in any
kind of workstation or server, including 486, Pentium Alpha, and
RISC-based computers.

Accton is still testing its 100BASE-Tx Fast Ethernet adapter. Pricing has
yet to be established but the product is expected to ship some time on the
fourth quarter of this year.

Accton Technology Corporation manufactures workgroup connectivity hardware
and software, including a complete product line for Ethernet and
Token-Ring applications. Accton has been ranked as one of the top six
manufacturers of Ethernet adapters by International Data Corporation, and
the first Ethernet adapter vendor to receive ISO-9001 certification.
Accton Technology Corporation is headquartered at 1962 Zanker Road, San
Jose, CA 95112; telephone (408) 452-8900; FAX: (408) 452-8988.

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