Celerity ADSL Loop Qualification System Proven in Trials through The #5ESS Switch; Service Providers Can Provision DSL Services Faster

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2002--Teradyne Broadband Test Division, Inc., (NYSE: TER - news), a leading provider of broadband test capabilities, announced today that the Celerity test system has completed field trials to prove it can accurately qualify lines for DSL services through the 5ESS switch. The 5ESS switch test bus has active elements, which can affect measurement signals. Through Teradyne's many years of experience working with the 5ESS - the most prevalent switch type found in the US phone networks today - Celerity was tuned to compensate for this affect and provide reliable, accurate measurements of loops. In a test bed of 5,000 selected "worst case" lines off a 5ESS switch in an RBOC, Celerity was consistently able to provide length measurements within 400 feet, 99.6% of the time. Celerity was also shown to be 98.2% consistent when reporting the presence of load coils on a test bed of these 5,000 "worst case" long lines. At scale, results on RBOC loops representative of the network are even higher. For single-ended loop loss measurements, Celerity test results on 175 long lines near the edge of the ADSL qualification limit were equivalent to double-ended measurements using hand-held instruments. This proven accuracy enables service providers to reliably qualify lines in areas served by the 5ESS switch, thereby extending the reach of DSL to a larger customer base and offering the potential to increase the overall number of lines sold.

"No other commercial product can demonstrate this level of accuracy in the field today," says Daniel Burch, Engineering Director. "We conducted rigorous trials with three North American LECs over the last year, and were able to prove the accuracy on thousands of lines in the field."

Celerity uses a single-ended, narrowband measurement technique to predict loop loss, with accuracy comparable to that of double-ended instruments. Celerity also measures accurate loop length, which can be used to make a quick verification of stored records data.

Celerity represents a breakthrough in testing technology as it uses patented measurement techniques and expert systems analysis to determine the insertion loss of a copper pair through the existing voice switch, to predict DSL line speed. This is achieved while the line is still connected to the central office prior to selling the customer the service and moving the line connection over to a DSLAM. The system performs scheduled and real-time qualification tests to identify the length, loss, speed and impairments of each line. This test data can then be used to enhance existing record system information to enable accurate pre-qualification of loops for DSL services.

"Of the hundreds of switch interfaces that we have developed to support Celerity, the 5ESS was the toughest nut to crack," says Joe Ziemba, Field Applications Specialist. "The typical switch has a metallic test bus. With the 5ESS, we had to get a high level of accuracy through the Gated Diode Crosspoint, which is a semiconductor switching fabric that can disrupt our measurements." Celerity's complex pre-qualification test patterns had to prove as accurate in the 5ESS as they are in any other metallic access switch in operational trials. The field trials, which compared Celerity results with records-based systems and double-ended loop measurements, confirmed Celerity accuracy in the 5ESS.

Celerity is currently deployed on over 20 million lines around the world. The system accurately qualifies millions of lines in hours enabling it to test every line exposed to DSL every month. Service providers can deploy more DSL sooner by increasing the pool of available DSL-ready lines and increasing the productivity of the provisioning process. The system also extends to service assurance testing of in-service DSL lines, identifying the presence and dispatch location of data affecting faults for the repair center.

About Teradyne Broadband Test Division

Teradyne Broadband Test Division is a division of Teradyne, Inc (NYSE: TER). The group develops state-of-the-art-testing capabilities that support service provider's goals to sell and deploy more broadband services sooner and improve the efficiency of qualification, provisioning, and customer care for DSL and CATV high speed data networks. Teradyne's 10 years of internet protocol testing experience and industry leading background in layer 1 DSL testing enhances its 30 years experience in providing test systems that support voice customer care for approximately 120 Million voice lines worldwide. Teradyne is the world's largest supplier of automatic test equipment and is also a leading supplier of high performance interconnection systems. The company had sales of $1.4 billion in 2001 and currently employs about 8000 people worldwide. For more information on Teradyne's Broadband Test Products, visit Teradyne at: http://www.teradyne.com/prods/btd/.

"5ESS" is a registered trademark of Lucent, Inc.

“Of the hundreds of switch interfaces that we have developed to support Celerity, the 5ESS was the toughest nut to crack”