Multivendor Interoperability Demo being showcased by EANTC at CEWC 2010

Santa Clara, CA, September 21, 2010 – Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNW), a leading wireless expert in advanced IP migration solutions, today announced enhanced integrated Ethernet switching capabilities for its market leading Eclipse Packet Node microwave transmission platform to address the rapid growth of mobile broadband data traffic.  The enhanced platform was successfully tested by the European Advanced Networking Testing Center (EANTC) in August at the industry’s largest annual Carrier Ethernet interoperability test event and is being demonstrated this week at the Carrier Ethernet World Congress (CEWC) in Warsaw, Poland.

Mobile backhaul traffic continues to grow at a staggering pace globally driven by the proliferation of smart phones loaded with mobile data and video-intensive applications.  As operators expand their backhaul networks to accommodate this surge, Ethernet-equipped microwave systems continue to serve a critical role. This was recently confirmed by Heavy Reading’s 3Q10 Ethernet Backhaul Quarterly Market Tracker report, which projected 800 percent growth for Ethernet microwave deployed sites from 2010-2013. Having pioneered Hybrid or Dual Native Ethernet/TDM microwave solutions since the introduction of the Eclipse nodal wireless platform in 2004, Aviat Networks continues to evolve its portfolio to address the demands of emerging 4G/LTE networks requiring advanced Ethernet scalability, Quality of Service (QoS), traffic management, synchronisation over packet networks and related features, which are designed to provide a smooth migration path to "all-IP” along with investment protection.

Aviat Networks recently demonstrated the readiness of its enhanced platform by participating in EANTC’s annual Carrier Ethernet interoperability test event, a proving ground for the latest in Carrier Ethernet innovations.  At this year’s event, Aviat Networks was part of a multivendor Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) test conducted over a combined microwave-wireline network with several vendors including Cisco, Symmetricom, Calnex and MRV. “Aviat Networks successfully completed testing of its latest Eclipse Packet Node solutions alongside 23 other vendors to demonstrate the viability of Ethernet microwave and SyncE for 3G and LTE mobile backhaul applications,” said Carsten Rossenhövel, managing director of EANTC.

Advanced Ethernet switching capabilities for Eclipse Packet Node are being introduced on a new Gigabit Ethernet switching card—planned for introduction later this year—and will be offered alongside existing Eclipse Ethernet cards.  It builds on Aviat Networks’ field-proven experience and leadership in delivering versatile and scalable Hybrid and Packet microwave backhaul solutions and provides a seamless upgrade for customers who have already deployed Eclipse but need multi-Gigabit Ethernet transport with higher performance.  In addition to synchronisation over packet, the new card features advances in capacity, QoS, traffic management and Ethernet services, and supports new Ethernet protection options for high availability service assurance.

“Aviat Networks is pleased to participate in EANTC’s interoperability events—now for the sixth consecutive year—and even more delighted to continue advancing our solutions to address the growing needs of our customers for increased Ethernet versatility and scalability”, said Shaun McFall, chief marketing officer, Aviat Networks.