Texas Instruments Ships More Than 13 Million x2 Technology Capable DSP Chipsets Worldwide
HOUSTON, TEXAS, (August 4, 1997) - Confirming rapid market acceptance, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) said it has shipped to date more than 13 million next-generation, high-speed modem chipsets. These chipsets, based on TI's digital signal processing (DSP) solutions, form the industry's largest installed base of next-generation, 56K-class modem technology. This Figure includes chipsets with x2 technology and those software upgradeable to x2.
TI's DSP-based chipsets are found in both PC modems and at Internet service
provider (ISP) installations which use 3Com, U.S. Robotics-brand platforms.
TI's DSP software programmability ensures quick and easy upgrades to current and future 56K-standards. DSPs are specialized chips that add and multiply tens of millions of complex formulas per second -- approximately 10-50 times faster than the traditional microprocessor.
Based on worldwide shipments, the acceptance for 56K-class products has
been strongest in North America. Ernie Raper, founding partner and market
analyst for VisionQuest 2000, recognized in June and July reports that,
"Retail channels are embracing 56Kbps-class modems faster than any prior
upgrade." He estimates that 65%-70% of North American retail shelf space in
July was held by x2 products.
"The programmability and performance of the TI DSP Solution offers a
significant cost and technological advantage over competing solutions,"
said Phil Campbell, TI modem business manager. "TI's DSP performance and
software upgradeability have allowed TI and our customers to smoothly
migrate from V.34 to 56K-class modems using the same DSP platform shipped to modem manufacturers since 1993."
"We've been seeing incredible demand for x2 technology and a faster adoption rate than with any previous modem technology. And because all our x2 modem and ISP equipment is based on TI's programmable DSPs, we can offer consumers free upgrades to the future international standard through our 'x2 delivers' program," said Neil Clemmons, vice president of marketing, 3Com. "We've been the only company that's been able to provide software upgrades for many client modems and all our ISP equipment, allowing customers to migrate from V.34 to x2 while protecting their technology investment."
Based on ISP deployment, client modem sales and the large installed base,
x2 is the most widely used 56K technology in the industry. TI DSP-driven x2 equipment is expected to be software upgradeable to the forthcoming
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard.
To date, x2 is available in 2,250 cities by 700 ISPs with 7,000 live points
of presence (POPs) and growing daily. TI DSP-based x2 chipsets (jointly developed by Texas Instruments and 3Com/U.S. Robotics) have been shipped to the following customers: 3Com/US Robotics, Packard Bell, Dell, Gateway 2000, Acer, IBM, Hitachi, NEC, Hewlett-Packard, Cardinal, Practical Peripherals, Global Village, Best Data, Logicode, MaxTech and many others.
More information regarding TI's x2 products is avaialable on the World Wide
Web at http://www.ti.com/sc/x2.
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