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Spectra7 Announces New GaugeChanger(TM) Product for Next Generation 800Gbps Data Center Interconnects

V.SEV | October 6, 2020

CA-SPECTRA7-MICROSYSTEMS

Company Continues Innovating Industry-leading Active Copper Cable Solutions

(TSX-V:SEV) Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. (“Spectra7” or the “Company”), a leading provider of high-performance analog semiconductor products for broadband connectivity markets, today announced the GC1122 IC to support the next generation data rates of 112Gbps using PAM4 signaling that is required for 800Gbps connections. At these rates, Active Copper Cables (“ACCs”) are anticipated to be deployed for up to 50% of data center network connections.

“Customers continue to demand copper as they are quickly moving to next-generation 25.6 Tbps and 800G switching solutions,” said Alan Weckel, Founder and Technology Analyst with 650 Group. “We see the 800Gbps and above Ethernet switch market growing over the next 5 years to over $12 billion driven by AI, Machine Learning and increased use of cloud applications. Active copper cables like those enabled by Spectra7 will play a critical role at 800Gbps as traditional passive cables will not be able to achieve the lengths needed. We anticipate at 800Gbps, up to half of all network interconnects to be active copper as the architecture in the networks continues to evolve at higher speeds.”

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.

“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."

The GC1122 is the latest addition to the GaugeChanger™ 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.

GaugeChanger™ is an innovative and disruptive technology that allows copper to extend much longer lengths without the cost and power penalty of optics. It works equally well at 25 Gbps NRZ, 50 Gbps PAM-4 and 100 Gbps PAM4, enabling new connector standards of 100, 200, 400 and 800 Gbps.

The GC1122 is expected to be available for broad sampling in the fourth quarter of 2020.

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. For more information, please visit www.spectra7.com .

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, those regarding the availability of the GC1122 and expected uptake of this product and outlook, strategy, proposed acquisitions, 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 Annual Information Form and annual MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2019. 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.