Synergy Microsystems and StarGen Announce StarFabric Technology Collaboration

Synergy to Release Series of SBCs based on StarFabric Platform

San Diego, CA - January 17, 2003 - Synergy Microsystems, Inc. (Synergy) announced today the introduction of a powerful new class of VME single-board computers (SBCs) and PMC modules equipped with StarGen's StarFabric point-to-point switched back-plane and chassis-to-chassis interconnect technology.

Synergy's StarFabric switching solution, known as StarCross, will initially be deployed on Synergy's just-released Raptor DX board, a VME-based SBC driven by the advanced Power PC 7455 processor, and on the PSTN, a 64-bit/66 MHz PMC module.

Synergy believes the high-bandwidth, extremely low latency, mapped memory StarFabric switching capability will provide the higher speed networking needed to keep pace with the faster processing, higher-speed memory and bigger disk storage of today's advanced embedded systems. StarFabric can handle multiple classes of traffic, adding further flexibility and enhancements to high-performance embedded systems.

StarFabric supports existing standards-based software and hardware investments, thus providing an easy migration path from current PCI and CompactPCI-based architectures. In addition, fabric-based connections enable the building of highly redundant systems, which tolerate multiple points of failure without compromising functionality or throughput.

"We believe StarFabric switching technology provides the capabilities that next-generation embedded solutions will demand - namely, scalability, high performance and high availability that meets the most stringent QoS levels," noted Thomas Powell, Synergy CEO.

"Our commitment to StarCross signals our belief that the StarFabric approach is destined to become an industry standard. By putting it directly on our SBCs, we not only avoid the cost of a PMC card and connectors, we also free up a PMC slot for additional I/O capability for our customers," Powell added. "For existing customers looking to add StarFabric to their systems, our PMC module offers a way to achieve the same advanced connectivity without giving up their legacy hardware investment."

"Synergy has consistently been at the forefront of innovative VME and CompactPCI computing technologies, while also valuing both price and performance," said Tracy Richardson, co-founder and president of StarGen. "This collaboration reinforces our commitment to the embedded community and our efforts to provide cost-effective, scalable and user-friendly switching solutions."

About Synergy
Synergy Microsystems, Inc. www.synergymicro.com specializes in the design and manufacturing of single- and multi-processor, single board computers for VME and CompactPCI systems to meet the needs of demanding real-time applications in military, DSP and industrial/commercial markets. The company has a long track record of extracting the highest possible performance from current and emerging SBC technologies, and supporting these technologies through long product life cycles. In business since 1985, the corporation is privately held, with headquarters in San Diego, CA and R&D facilities in both San Diego and Tucson, AZ.

About StarGena
StarGen www.stargen.com is a fabless semiconductor company that has developed a new switched interconnect technology, StarFabric, for the communication and embedded industries. The technology benefits vendors of carrier and enterprise communication platforms for next-generation voice, data, and video networks. In addition, many embedded applications benefit from StarFabric's distributed multi-processing features. StarGen's technology provides a dramatic increase in equipment performance, reliability, and Quality of Service while providing for the retention of existing standards-based hardware and software investment. StarFabric, available today, also offers customers a seamless roadmap to PCI Express Advanced Switching, when it becomes available in the future. StarGen is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

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