The M21030 and the M21451 are four channel signal conditioners that feature the first adaptive equalizers to perform at speeds up to 6.5 Gbps for a variety of storage, server and communications applications. Adaptive equalization is a critical technology in applications where the transmission channel may be modified, such as when cables or blades are changed out. Mindspeed’s M21030 four-channel cable equalizer supports all newly rate-doubled versions of serial ATA (SATA), serial attached SCSI (SAS), PCI Express and Infiniband.

The M21030 consumes a low 550mW of power and can be used in a variety of applications, including reach extension over twin-axial cables and multi-gigabit interconnect over CAT5 cable. The device can be installed on the line card or may be included as part of an active cable solution for applications such as QSFP. The M21451 is a four channel backplane equalizer that is ideal for applications where different boards may occupy a given slot in a chassis thereby altering properties of the communications channel.

Complementing Mindspeed’s M21030 and M21451 devices are the eight-channel M21452 and 12-channel M21453 backplane signal conditioners that provide a low-power (115mW per channel), economical solution for high-quality, backplane transmission over distances up to 40 inches across low-cost backplane materials such as FR-4 at rates up to 6.5 Gbps. These products feature programmable equalizers that are focused on environments where the nature of the transmission channel is well defined and the ultimate focus is on power and scalability.

“These devices represent the first components in our planned family of comprehensive high-speed signal integrity products, building on our expertise in integrated switching and signal integrity technology,” said Kurt Busch, senior vice president and general manager of Mindspeed’s high-performance analog business unit.

All devices in the family support a wide range of protocols, including PCI Express, SAS, SATA, Infiniband, SONET and XAUI. Additionally, they are designed to transparently pass out of band (OOB) signaling that is utilized in protocols such as SATA/SAS. Data rate support is continuous from 155 Mbps to 6.5 Gbps.

All products feature fully non-blocking switch matrices that can be used for redundancy, fail-over switching or to implement loopbacks and board-routing decongestion. The switching matrices are configurable via simple pin control, a two-wire software interface or programmable read-only memory (PROM) programming mode. Superior transmission quality is ensured through high boost equalizers and output drivers that offer programmable voltage swings, as well as de-emphasis in compliance with PCI Express specifications. Output jitter is minimized to the limits defined by PCI Express.

Pricing and Availability

Manufactured using low-cost complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the M21030 cable driver and the M21451, M21452 and M21453 backplane signal conditioners are sampling now. The M21030 and M21451 are packaged in small, 6 x 6 mm, 44 pin quad flat no-lead (QFN) package, while the M21452 and M21453 are packaged in a 10 x 10 mm QFN. Volume pricing is $19.95 for the M21030, $12.95 for the M21451, $23.95 for the M21452, and $31.95 for the M21453.

About Mindspeed Technologies®

Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. designs, develops and sells semiconductor networking solutions for communications applications in enterprise, access, metropolitan and wide area networks.

The company’s three key product families include high-performance analog transmission and switching solutions, multiservice access products designed to support voice and data services across wireline and wireless networks, and WAN communications solutions including T/E carrier physical-layer and link-layer devices, as well as ATM/MPLS network processors.. Mindspeed’s products are used in a wide variety of network infrastructure equipment including voice and media gateways, high-speed routers, switches, access multiplexers, cross-connect systems, add-drop multiplexers and digital loop carrier equipment.

To learn more, visit us at www.mindspeed.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements relating to Mindspeed, and our future results, including certain projections and business trends, that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results, and actual events that occur, may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: market demand for our new and existing products and our ability to increase our revenues; our ability to maintain operating expenses within anticipated levels; our ability to reduce our cash consumption; availability and terms of capital needed for our business; constraints in the supply of wafers and other product components from our third-party manufacturers; our ability to successfully and cost effectively establish and manage operations in foreign jurisdictions; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; successful development and introduction of new products; our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and realize the anticipated benefits from such acquisitions; our ability to obtain design wins and develop revenues from them; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; industry consolidation; order and shipment uncertainty; changes in our customers’ inventory levels and inventory management practices; fluctuations in manufacturing yields; product defects; and intellectual property infringement claims by others and the ability to protect our intellectual property, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings