Motorola Sets Technology Direction to Address Evolving Communication Needs of Embedded Applications

LONG BEACH, Calif., Jan. 16 -- Bus & Board 2006 -- To meet the evolving communications needs of the embedded computing market, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) will extend its offerings to include MicroTCA-based communications servers that will complement its current and future VMEbus- based products. This coexistence strategy is designed to help equipment manufacturers and system integrators bring new communications capabilities to the embedded market quickly while preserving the rich set of real-time I/O capabilities of VMEbus.

Next-generation embedded solutions are becoming increasingly communications intensive, demanding capabilities such as high availability, broadband and wireless support, high throughput switching and routing capabilities, and high serviceability. Motorola believes that these expanding communications requirements cannot be met by a single technology. Rather, a mix of technologies is likely to be much more effective in delivering advanced communications capabilities to the market.

Developed initially for the telecommunications industry, MicroTCA meets these evolving communications requirements and shares many of the same characteristics, such as small physical size, scalability and low entry cost, that made VMEbus successful in the embedded market. For these reasons, Motorola is developing MicroTCA-based solutions that will coexist with its VMEbus product lines.

"We see MicroTCA being used initially in telecom edge applications where small physical size and low entry cost are key requirements," said Ernie Bergstrom, Principal Analyst, Crystal Cube Consulting. "These same characteristics plus MicroTCA's communications capabilities means it can also support a broader spectrum of applications in medical, industrial and defense segments. In fact, MicroTCA is expected to be widely adopted in many industries, thereby creating economies of scale advantages to the market."

"MicroTCA and VMEbus have complementary strengths which can be used to implement solutions for the rapidly growing class of networked applications much better than either technology alone," said Paul Virgo, Director of Marketing, MicroTCA Platform, Embedded Communications Computing, Motorola. "The market is moving too quickly to wait for the replication of already existing capabilities in legacy architectures. We are leveraging our more than 20 years of experience in both telecommunications and embedded computing to create a seamless environment where applications exist on the most appropriate technology."

MicroTCA-based Communications Server

Motorola currently offers AdvancedTCA-based communications servers and is developing extensions to the product line based on the MicroTCA standard.

The communications server is a new class of computer architected to address exploding global demand for highly available, dependable and reliable communications platforms required to enable and deliver enhanced packet- centric services over both wireline and wireless networks. Employing open industry-standard technologies, communications servers incorporate all the technologies required to manage advanced communications applications including general purpose processing, multimedia processing, and routing and packet processing facilities.

Coexistence Proof-of-Concept Demonstration

At Bus & Board 2006, Motorola is showing a proof of concept demonstration that links VMEbus and MicroTCA platforms using NDDS over Ethernet. This system implementation allows cooperating applications to run on the most appropriate platform, giving greater flexibility in system architectures, simplifying platform upgrades and helping to protect investment over the product lifecycle.

RoHS/WEEE Compliant VMEbus Products Announced

At Bus and Boards, Motorola is announcing new versions of its MVME5100 and MVME5500 single-board computers, which comply with RoHS environmental standards.

"Consistent with our strategy, we are launching RoHS-compliant VMEbus products to extend the lifecycle of these important embedded computing products," said Virgo. "Our goal is to provide our customers with Motorola solutions that enable them to choose the most appropriate technology for their specific application needs."

About Motorola

Motorola is a Fortune 100 global communications leader that provides seamless mobility products and solutions across broadband, embedded systems and wireless networks. In your home, auto, workplace and all spaces in between, seamless mobility means you can reach the people, things and information you need, anywhere, anytime. Seamless mobility harnesses the power of technology convergence and enables smarter, faster, cost-effective and flexible communication. Motorola had sales of US $31.3 billion in 2004. For more information: www.motorola.com/ .

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. AdvancedTCA is a registered trademark of the PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group.