BARCELONA, SPAIN–(Marketwire – February 27, 2012) – Service providers are continuously balancing the need for streamlined infrastructure cost while also accommodating the explosive growth in data, voice and video traffic. Packet networks address this issue. With the migration to packet networks, synchronization for the next-generation 4G wireless applications becomes critical.GSMA Mobile World Congress — Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), a leading provider of semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing for networking, communications, and the digital home, announced today a joint IEEE 1588 / SyncE solution with Microsemi Corporation (NASDAQ: MSCC). The combined platform brings together the industry-leading Cavium OCTEON® II multi-core communication processor and the Microsemi ZL30343 high-performance timing device to give service providers a robust synchronization solution that meets the next-generation mobile backhaul requirements.

There are two technologies available to address this need: IEEE 1588 and Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE). Both IEEE 1588 and SyncE are based on industry standards and can accommodate a variety of Ethernet-based mobile backhaul environments. Depending on the traffic type and usage requirements, these two technologies can be used separately or together for a robust and comprehensive synchronization solution.

“The combination of IEEE 1588 and SyncE solutions significantly improves synchronization accuracy in advanced networks such as 4G and LTE,” said Russ Garcia, Microsemi Executive Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Communications and Medical Products group. “While GPS provides very accurate timing information, it has vulnerabilities and cannot be used in locations missing line of sight path to the transmitting satellite. IEEE 1588 together with SyncE solves this issue in packet-based applications.”

“Next-generation networks, including wireless backhaul, require tight distribution of frequency, phase and time on a global scale, without sacrificing cost, quality or availability,” said YJ Kim, General Manager of the Infrastructure Processor Group at Cavium. “The combination of Cavium’s award-winning OCTEON processors and Microsemi’s timing expertise provides service providers and equipment OEMs with a field-proven, integrated solution, while reducing the development and time to market cycle.”

The Cavium OCTEON processor family is the industry’s broadest and highest performance multi-core MIPS64 processor family with price points that address application performance ranging from 1Gbps to over 100 Gbps in a single chip. The OCTEON processor family consists of processors with 1 to 48 high-performance cores in a single chip with integrated networking interfaces and industry leading hardware acceleration for packet processing, quality of service, TCP, Security, compression / decompression and DPI. OCTEON Processors have been chosen by all major tier-1 OEMs for Router, Security, Mobile Infrastructure equipment, Storage, Cloud Computing, Adapter and Control Plane applications.

The Microsemi ZL30343 device is a member of a family of footprint-compatible devices offering the full range of features required for timing and synchronization across packet networks. These devices focus on the Clock Recovery, Servo Mechanism and Clock Generation for Synchronization using IEEE 1588 and Synchronous Ethernet.

About Cavium, Inc.

Cavium is a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing in networking, communications and the digital home. Cavium offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software compatible processors ranging in performance from 10 Mbps to over 100 Gbps that enable secure, intelligent functionality in enterprise, data-center, broadband/consumer and access & service provider equipment. Cavium’s processors are supported by ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tool support, reference designs and other services. Cavium’s principal offices are in San Jose, California with design team locations in California, Massachusetts, India, Taiwan and China. For more information, please visit: http://www.cavium.com

About Microsemi

Microsemi Corporation (NASDAQ: MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor solutions for: aerospace, defense and security; enterprise and communications; and medical, alternative energy and industrial markets. Products include high-performance, high-reliability analog and RF devices, mixed-signal and RF ICs, ultra low-power radios, customizable SoCs, FPGAs and complete subsystems. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif., and has approximately 3,000 employees globally. Learn more at www.microsemi.com.