Teradyne Announces Celerity Loop Qualification Test System to Mass Qualify Copper Loops for DSL Services

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2000--

Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE: TER) today announced the availability of Celerity, a DSL test system that augments today's record systems to enable accurate pre-qualification of copper loops for DSL services. Celerity uses breakthrough, patented techniques to accurately qualify millions of lines in hours enabling Local Exchange Carriers (LEC's) to test every line exposed to DSL every month. Celerity enables LEC's to deploy more DSL sooner by increasing the pool of available DSL-ready lines and increasing the productivity of the provisioning process. Celerity also provides LEC's the capability to meet the quality and cycle time requirements of the FCC's recent ruling on line sharing, at reduced cost.

Celerity's accuracy, value, and throughput were proven in a trial of one million lines with a major service provider. Celerity's accuracy was proven comparable to double-ended measurement approaches. The trial also verified Celerity's ability to test millions of lines in hours and its capability to deliver significant value.

"We saw that consumer demand for DSL was not restricted to a maintenance zone, and that the choice of technology was not standardized. The solution had to be flexible for technology and scaleable for demand," said Wayne Lasson, general manager of Teradyne's Telecommunications Division. "Working with a leading service provider, we designed Celerity as a pre-qualification, provisioning, and service assurance tool able to adapt to multiple broadband technologies."

Celerity also provides provisioning and service assurance testing to help streamline the installation, test, and repair processes by identifying DSL affecting faults. The system architecture allows future upgrades to accommodate noise testing for determining spectral compatibility.

Celerity consists of a Test System Controller (TSC), and a number of central office-based Loop Diagnostic Units (LDU). The LDU executes specialized narrowband test techniques through the existing low frequency test bus in today's switches. The TSC contains expert system software and an array of cable and modem models. With this capability, Celerity can determine the presence of DSL speed impairments such as load coils or bridged taps, as well as determine the transmission speed of the line by telephone number. Celerity's distributed architecture enables the system to access thousands of lines simultaneously and thereby perform tests on millions of lines in hours. Celerity is a self-contained test system, delivering information that is immediately useable through standard OS interfaces to data warehouses.

According to Frank Bauer, Director of Advanced Technology for Teradyne Telecommunications, "Teradyne has moved well beyond traditional voice measurements. The trial proved the system's ability to reduce the need for teams of skilled technicians to be dispatched to perform time-consuming double-ended measurements with test instruments."

Today, using current records systems, service providers classify lines suitable for DSL services primarily by length. These systems generally conclude that short lines are more likely and longer lines less likely to support DSL. Based on this, Celerity can augment the value of record systems in three ways:

1. Find more good lines: through more accurate testing and the ability to determine the line's maximum DSL speed, Celerity reduces "false negatives" - long lines that, in reality, can support DSL with no additional conditioning work but were judged incapable by records systems.

2. Faster cycle time on lines that are uncertain: for a significant percentage of lines current record systems are unable to determine whether the line is qualified. Celerity reduces the work and cycle time associated with manual qualification for these medium length lines.

3. Fewer bad lines are provisioned: Celerity reduces "false positives" - shorter lines that were thought able to carry DSL but because the actual distance is too long or there are speed impairments present, the line will not support DSL.

Trial results indicate that Celerity can increase good lines by 15% - 30% through reduction of false negatives and reduction in the number of lines deemed uncertain. The trial also demonstrated Celerity's ability to reduce false positives by approximately 15%.

By providing an accurate and current view of the network to the LEC and their DSL partners, Celerity can expand the served market and increase productivity of the provisioning process, thereby enabling faster revenue growth. The reduction in false negatives can also enable optimal use of time and capital related to network-wide programs being implemented by many LECs to extend DSL to a broader section of the population whose current phone lines do not support DSL. The advantage - more DSL lines sold and deployed sooner yielding higher revenues earlier. This is critical as unless captured early, some of the lines could be lost permanently to alternate broadband technologies such as cable modems.

About Teradyne Broadband Test:

Teradyne Telecommunications Division develops state-of-the-art broadband testing capabilities that support service provider's goals to sell and deploy more services sooner and improve the efficiency of qualification, provisioning, and customer care. Teradyne's seven years of internet protocol testing experience enhances its 27 years experience in providing test systems that support voice customer care for over 110 million voice lines worldwide.

“We saw that consumer demand for DSL was not restricted to a maintenance zone, and that the choice of technology was not standardized. The solution had to be flexible for technology and scaleable for demand”