MONTREAL, March 27 /CNW/ - Hyperchip(TM) (www.Hyperchip.com), the Petabit
Routing Company(TM), today announced that it has signed a license agreement
with Nortel Networks* (NYSE/TSE: NT) to enable it to add the robust
flexibility of Nortel Networks' Open IP Environment with the extreme
scalability of Hyperchip's petabit routing architecture. Combining the power
of Hyperchip's leading-edge architecture with Nortel Networks' advanced
routing software will solidify Hyperchip's position as the leader in petabit
scalability.
    ``We are excited about our relationship with Nortel Networks,'' said
Richard Norman, Hyperchip President and CTO. ``By combining Hyperchip's
revolutionary connectivity hardware with Nortel Networks' state-of-the-art
routing software, Hyperchip is building the most powerful routers on the
planet. This will deliver the bandwidth that the Internet needs to support
high-speed access on a massive scale''.
    ``Hyperchip and Nortel Networks share a commitment to deliver a `smarter'
generation of high-bandwidth systems that can evolve at the speed of fiber. By
combining Open IP Environment with Hyperchip's petabit routing systems, we
will provide that power and flexibility.''
    Jeff Pickering, Open IP Environment engineering prime, Nortel Networks,
said, ``Time to market is a critical component in the success of a product,
but it is equally important to provide a full-featured solution. The Hyperchip
solution, using Nortel Networks' Open IP Environment, provides network
designers with the best of both worlds -- flexibility and acceleration of a
full solution.''
    Nortel Networks' Open IP Environment allows system vendors to quickly
deliver robust and proven high-performance support for key routing protocols
such as OSPF, SNMP, RIP, and BGP4. This avoids the traditional trade-off
between broad support and time-to-market, allowing network equipment vendors
to bring sophisticated products to market faster and at lower cost. The
modular architecture enables developers to choose features and capabilities
based on the size and type of device to be IP-enabled, from PDAs to large
routers.  Open IP is a big step toward building a more reliable, more secure,
faster Internet and is driving a shift from expensive, complex ``Old World''
routers.
    Hyperchip's petabit routing architecture allows IP routing to scale from
terabits to petabits per second of aggregate port bandwidth. These
extreme-performance routers are based on Hyperchip's massively parallel
semiconductor technology, producing systems that scale to 65,536 high-speed
ports to allow routing technology to unleash the bandwidth potential of
optical fiber.

    ABOUT HYPERCHIP
    Hyperchip is a Montreal company whose investors include Siemens Mustang
Ventures, Argo Global Capital (backed by several leading telco carriers),
Vertex, Vontobel, Advent and TechnoCap. Founded in 1997 after 10 years of
patent work and 4 years of proof-of-concept work, Hyperchip has pioneered
major advances in key computing and communication technologies. Hyperchip is
the leader in petabit scalability for the WAN, and is driving the merger of
the world's networks to provide end-to-end multi-gigabit connections between
users, servers and storage, regardless of distance. More information about
Hyperchip can be found at www.hyperchip.com.

    ABOUT NORTEL NETWORKS
    Nortel Networks is a global leader in telephony, data, eBusiness, and
wireless solutions for the Internet. The Company had 1999 U.S. GAAP revenues
of US$21.3 billion and serves carrier, service provider and enterprise
customers globally. Today, Nortel Networks is creating a high-performance
Internet that is more reliable and faster than ever. It is redefining the
economics and quality of networking and the Internet through Unified
Networks* that promise a new era of collaboration, communications and
commerce. Visit us at www.nortelnetworks.com.

    Hyperchip and the Petabit Routing Company are trademarks of Hyperchip
    Inc. * Nortel Networks and Unified Networks are trademarks of Nortel
    Networks. Other trademarks identified in this release are the property of
    their respective companies.



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For further information: Jennifer Goldfinch, Hyperchip, (514) 931-5335
Ext. 213; jgoldfinch@hyperchip.com; Brigitte Stock, Hyperchip,
(514) 935-5043; bstock@stockmedia.com; Carter Cromwell, Nortel Networks,
(408) 495-2835; carterc@nortelnetworks.co