Business Editors/High Tech Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2001

Transcendent Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:APSG), today announced the successful completion of System Acceptance Testing (SAT) for its 2010 Carrier Monitoring System (2010 CMS) for PanAmSat Corporation. The globally-distributed 2010 CMS is now continuously monitoring the downlink spectrum for PanAmSat's international fleet of satellites - the world's largest commercial geostationary satellite network.

The 2010 CMS features digital signal processing (DSP) technology. "The 2010 puts a whole new set of analysis tools in the hands of commercial satellite operators," said Steven Campbell, Transcendent R&D manager and leader of its PanAmSat project. "The sophisticated algorithms in our DSP units automatically provide the measurements needed to ensure signal quality in today's increasingly complex and congested traffic environment."

The 2010 CMS is a fourth-generation product based on technology developed at APSG for specialized government applications. Dr. Michael Ready, Transcendent's Chief Technology Officer and former Corporate Engineer for APSG, was one of the originators of the broadband spectrum monitor that evolved into the 2010 CMS. "It's gratifying to see commercial satellite operators finally getting their hands on advanced digital signal processing technology for carrier monitoring," Dr. Ready said. "Transcendent's programmable architectures can dramatically improve the efficiency of satellite network operations."

The 2010 CMS replaced PanAmSat's original carrier monitoring system, which relied exclusively on spectrum analyzers to measure downlinks. The core of Transcendent's approach is its DSP monitoring unit, which allows for unprecedented analysis capability. Installed at each remote site, these units provide automated background monitoring and alarm generation, and also support user-defined analysis tasks. Transcendent also provided local servers for each remote site to control existing equipment and a GUI-based network manager program that runs on the main servers at PanAmSat's centralized Operations Centers to control the global CMS network.

"Following network standards makes it easy to control the remote sites via the LAN/WAN infrastructure, and to add elements to the 2010 CMS network as PanAmSat expands," said Campbell. "The relational database linked to the network management element lets PanAmSat reconfigure their satellite constellation and carrier data in real time. And using DSP units into the field makes it easy to add new capabilities via software downloads."

Transcendent's system uses time-domain measurements, not provided by spectrum analyzers, to collect data on C/kT, modulation type, baud and data rates, overhead rate, Viterbi and sequential FEC rates, Reed Solomon outer code type and rate, and scrambler type. These measurements can help to identify unauthorized users, a major problem for network operators trying to take full advantage of fixed bandwidth resources. They can also help users determine if a modem is configured and operating correctly. The Transcendent DSP unit also makes the basic measurements that satellite operators have traditionally obtained from a spectrum analyzer -- center frequency, bandwidth, carrier power levels, and carrier-to-noise ratios. These values help a satellite operator determine if their network plan is being followed.

About Transcendent Technologies, Inc.: Transcendent Technologies, based in Sunnyvale, California, was incorporated in April 2000 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied Signal Technology (APSG). Transcendent Technologies is a technology leader in the market for next generation satellite signal quality monitoring systems. For more information, visit www.transtechinc.cc

About Applied Signal Technology, Inc.: Applied Signal Technology, Inc., the parent company of Transcendent Technologies, Inc., designs, develops, manufactures and markets advanced digital signal processing equipment to process a wide range of telecommunications signals for commercial and government applications. For more information, visit www.appsig.com.