DesignCon Showcase of New GC1122 Chip for 800Gbps Interconnects

August 17th, 2021 SAN JOSE, CA - (NewsWire) – (TSXV:SEV) (OTCQB:SPVNF) Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. (“Spectra7” or the “Company”), a leading provider of high-performance analog semiconductor products for broadband connectivity markets, and MultiLane Technologies Inc. (MultiLane), a market leading manufacturer of High-Speed IO and Data Center Interconnect test solutions, announced that they will be demonstrating Spectra7’s new 112G PAM4 GaugeChanger^TM chip intended for next generation 800Gbps data center interconnects at this year’s DesignCon show in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA from Aug 17-18, 2021.

As the industry moves to 800Gbps it will adopt 112Gbps PAM4 per lane signaling over 8 lanes. At these ultra-high signal rates, traditional passive copper cables will struggle to reach beyond 1.5 meters. This creates a huge problem for Hyperscalers that require longer lengths to serve both switch-to-switch and switch-to-server connections, but do not want to incur the power and cost penalty of optics. ACCs enabled with Spectra7’s GC1122 solution will extend copper cable reach 2.5 times, up to 4 meters at a fraction of the cost of optics. Critically, at a time when Hyperscale operators are struggling with power consumption and carbon emissions, ACCs using the Spectra7 technology will consume only 200mW of power per channel, which is up to 12 times lower power than optical solutions.

The GC1122 is the latest addition to the GaugeChanger^TM product line and extends the data rate from 56Gbps PAM4 to 112Gbps PAM4 per lane. Since the GC1122 is analog and highly linear, dynamics such as line rate adjustment, multi-level signaling, intermittent line silence, transmit pre-emphasis or amplitude adjustment and receiver adaptivity are fully preserved. The GC1122 is packaged in an ultra-small 2.7mm x 4.2mm chip scale package making it easily embeddable in even the smallest of connectors.

The DesignCon demonstration highlights Spectra7’s new GC1122 device as well as MultiLane’s latest high speed test equipment including the ML4015D DSO and the ML4039E BERT.

“Spectra7’s new GC1122 is set to fill a big need in the data center interconnect market,” said MultiLane CEO Fadi Daou. “We are delighted to be working with Spectra7 and their cable partners as they anticipate bringing their 112Gbps products to mass production in 2022.”

“We are seeing tremendous interest from every Hyperscaler to get sample 800Gbps cables that are enabled by our new GC1122 solution”, said Spectra7 CEO Raouf Halim. "Both we and our cable partners believe that 800Gbps will represent a significant acceleration in the growth and adoption of our ACC data center interconnect technology."

ABOUT MULTILANE

MultiLane Inc. is a leading provider of High-Speed IO and Data Center Interconnect test solutions from 10G to 800G. Products include BERTs, TDR, optical and electrical oscilloscopes, optical switch boxes, and a host of MSA-compliant development tools for QSFP28, QSFP-DD, OSFP, and other standards. MultiLane’s products are used to test semiconductors, DACs, AOCs, active cables, optical transceivers, and system switch cards. MultiLane also offers compliance test services and fully automated, turn-key test solutions. In addition, MultiLane develops high speed ATE modules that fit in wafer-scale automated test systems such as Advantest’s V93K platform. For more information, please visit www.multilaneinc.com

ABOUT SPECTRA7 MICROSYSTEMS INC.

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. is a high-performance analog semiconductor company delivering unprecedented bandwidth, speed and resolution to enable disruptive industrial design for leading electronics manufacturers in virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, data centers and other connectivity markets. Spectra7 is based in San Jose, California with a design center in Cork, Ireland and technical support location in Dongguan, China.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provided (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY NOTES

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, the timing of the effective date of the Consolidation, the Company’s strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to the risk factors discussed in the Company's Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.

For more information, please contact:

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.
John Mitchell
Investor Relations
650-269-3043
ir@spectra7.com

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.
Bonnie Tomei
Chief Financial Officer
669-212-1089
pr@spectra7.com