From: skids@auratek.com (Brian Skidmore)
Subject:  AURORA NEWS - AUGUST 92
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 00:33:18 GMT

AURORA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.         Contact: Brian Skidmore - Marketing Director
                                           617 290-4800 voice 617 290-4844 fax

                   AURORA ANNOUNCES *NEW* HIGH FUNCTIONALITY 
		    COMBINATION PARALLEL/SERIAL SBus CARD
       
      ** Multiport Model 420S product saves slots with 4 serial ports and 
        2 parallel ports on single card - new card offers high performance 
                         while minimizing system load ** 

* 420S Product Is Compatible with Hundreds of Parallel and Serial Devices.
* Latest addition to Aurora's Best-selling Family of Parallel and Serial
  SBus cards.
* The Combination of 4 Serial and 2 Parallel Ports (420S) on a Single-width 
  SBus Card Preserves Slots for Further System Expansion.
* Aurora's Products Support All SPARC System Implementations, from Single-
   Board Systems, to Desktop Workstations, to Multiprocessing Servers.
* 420S Product Features The Aurora Advantage: 
	o High Performance
	o Low-CPU Load 
    	o Easy Installation
	o High Reliability
        o Verified Compatibility with SPARC Systems by SPARC International
	o Superior Warranty, and Technical Service
+ Available: October 1992 
+ Price: Multiport Model 420S(TM) - $795.00

WALTHAM, MA -- August 20, 1992 - Aurora Technologies, Inc., the
leading SBus product vendor, today announced the Multiport Model 420S,
the latest addition to the best-selling line of SBus multiport
products. This new combination serial/parallel SBus card for SPARC(R)
workstations, incorporates the functionality of Aurora's popular
Multiport Model 400S(TM) (four intelligent serial ports) and Multiport
Model 20S+(TM) (2 high-performance Centronics compatible parallel
ports) on a single-width SBus card. The 420S incorporates the
extensive experience Aurora has gained through delivering and
supporting thousands of high-quality, high-performance serial and
parallel SBus cards over the last three years. Like all Aurora
Multiport products, the 420S includes a simple-to-install SunOS(TM)
device driver, a helpful User's Guide, a molded plastic breakout cable
and a one-year limited warranty, which includes an overnight
replacement maintenance service.

HIGH DENSITY DESIGN PROVIDES HIGHEST FUNCTIONALITY ON A SINGLE SBus
CARD

"This new product reflects our commitment to higher integration in our
SBus card designs," said Brian Skidmore, Marketing Director at Aurora
Technologies, Inc. "We are dedicated to enabling SPARC system users to
add significant new functionality without wasting scarce SBus slots.
By combining the most popular device interfaces on a single card we
allow an IPX user to connect six new devices and still have a slot
left over. The 420S high functionality features, excellent
performance, assurance of compatibility with all SPARC systems, and
our standard Aurora Advantage benefits add up to the best value in
SPARC combination parallel and serial interface products." 

The Multiport Model 420S product provides two Centronics-compatible
parallel port interfaces for high-speed output to printers and
plotters. It also provides four RS232 serial ports for connecting a
wide variety of serial devices such as terminals, modems and
digitizers. The 420S product includes the most recent Aurora device
driver which achieves the optimal balance between higher output speed
and demand on system resources.

The parallel ports provide significantly faster output than serial
printer connections, allowing the system to free up more quickly and
spend time on more important tasks. These ports are over 100X faster
than a 19.2 k baud serial port. Reducing the demand on system
resources is a particularly important benefit during parallel and
serial data transfers. A poorly designed product can cause the CPU to
spend 90% of its time servicing I/O interrupts, significantly
impacting application performance. In addition, the 420S serial ports
have 16 byte FIFO buffers on each send and receive channel, providing
excellent data integrity and sustained throughput at higher baud rates
(e.g. 38.4k bits/sec). These serial port buffers further reduce demand
on system resources, allowing more of the system's power to be used
for applications.

COMPATIBLE WITH HUNDREDS OF OUTPUT DEVICES AND POSTSCRIPT SOLUTIONS

The Multiport Model 420S offers full support for hundreds of printing
devices which use virtually every type of marking technology
available, including ink jet, dot matrix, color thermal, laser
printers and electrostatic plotters. The serial ports on the 420S
product are also compatible with printer, digitizers, modems,
terminals, and other serial devices.

Both the parallel and serial ports are compatible with PostScript(TM)
printing solutions such as NeWSprint(TM) 2.0 software from
SunPics(TM), and Freedom of the Press from Computer Applications, Inc.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Multiport Model 420S - $795.00

Available October 1992, the Multiport Model 420S product includes a
simple-to- install, optimized device driver, a helpful User's Guide, a
one year limited warranty, include an overnight-replacement
maintenance policy for the first year, and telephone support for the
life of the product. Aurora's SBus products have a user base in the
thousands, having sold steadily since their introduction more than two
years ago.

SPARC INTERNATIONAL VERIFIED COMPATIBILITY

The SPARC Verified logo indicates that SPARC International has tested
and verified Aurora's products as being compatible with SPARC Systems
that meet SCD 1.1. These SPARC systems include:

        All SMCC SPARCstations and SPARCservers, including the 600MP series
        Goldstar SPARC systems 
        Hyundai SPARC systems 
        OPUS SPARC systems
        Solbourne S4000
        Tatung SPARC systems
        TriGem SPARC systems
	** Additional systems are tested on a regular basis **

                                      ###

Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Aurora Technologies, Inc., develops,
markets, manufactures and supports enhancement products for SPARC
workstations. These include SBus multiplexer cards, communications
products, peripherals, interfaces and SBus expansion products, all
specifically designed to increase the performance and functionality of
SPARC workstations. Founded in 1988 by Dennis Daudelin and Daniel
Kozin, former members of Sun's engineering and marketing teams, Aurora
is a member of SPARC International and an Advantage member of Sun's
Catalyst program.

SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International.  SunPics and
NeWSprint are trademarks of Sun Microsystems Computer Corp.
PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.  Multiport
Model 420S, 400S, and 20S+ are trademarks of Aurora Technologies, Inc.
Centronics is a registered trademark of Ecko Group, Inc.  All other
trademarks and registered trademarks are the proprietary property of
their respective owners.
===============================================================================
        Aurora Technologies, Inc., 176 Second Avenue, Waltham, MA 02154
                   (617) 290-4800 Voice  (617) 290-4844 Fax
===============================================================================
==============================================================================
 NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ** NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
==============================================================================
AURORA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.         Contact: Brian Skidmore - Marketing Director
                                           617 290-4800 voice 617 290-4844 fax
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         AURORA ANNOUNCES HIGH-SPEED ASYNCHRONOUS SERIAL SBus CARDS
       
             **Multiport Model 400SX and 800SX products offer 
            high-speed serial ports for modems and X-Terminals**

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Aurora's SX Products Provide 300% Faster Throughput Compared to Standard
  Serial Ports, for Faster Communications and the Best X-Terminal Response.
* The SX Products Offer Significantly Reduced CPU Load During the Most 
  Demanding I/O Applications, Allowing SPARC Systems to be More Effective.
* Aurora's SX Products Support All SPARC System Implementations, from Single-
   Board Systems, to Desktop Workstations, to Multiprocessing Servers.
* These Intelligent Serial Port Products Feature The Aurora Advantage: 
	o High Performance
	o Low-CPU Load 
    	o Easy Installation
	o High Reliability
        o Verified Compatibility with SPARC Systems by SPARC International
	o Superior Warranty, and Technical Service
+ Available: Now
+ Price: Multiport Model 400SX(TM) -  $995.00, 
         Multiport Model 800SX(TM) - $1695.00

WALTHAM, MA -- August 20, 1992 - Aurora Technologies, Inc., the
leading SBus product vendor, announced Multiport Model 400SX and 800SX
high-performance serial port SBus card products today. These enhanced
versions of Aurora's popular four and eight port intelligent serial
multiplexers for SPARC(R) systems are capable of maintaining baud
rates as high as 115.2K baud with minimal impact on system
performance. Over the last three years, thousands of Aurora serial
ports have been installed world-wide. Both products include a
simple-to-install SunOS(TM) device driver, a helpful User's Guide, a
molded plastic breakout cable, or metal breakout box, and a one-year
limited warranty which includes an overnight-replacement maintenance
policy for the first year.

SX PRODUCTS ENABLE INEXPENSIVE X-TERMINALS TO REPLACE WORKSTATIONS

Serial connect X-Terminals, like the Qume QX15, support high baud
rates enabling these terminals to provide users with workstation-like
response for a fraction of the workstation price. Highly interactive
applications such as FrameMaker(R) for desktop publishing, and
AutoCAD(R) for creating CAD drawings, require smooth, seamless
response to the users actions. At 115.2K baud the QX15, combined with
Aurora's 400SX or 800SX, easily meet users' performance expectations
for these types of applications for as little as $900 per seat.

"Upgrading users from character-based ASCII terminals to inexpensive
serial X-Terminals offers significant gains in user productivity for a
fraction of the cost of a workstation," said Brian Skidmore, Marketing
Director at Aurora Technologies, Inc. "It's now extremely
cost-effective, in server environments, to equip users with
inexpensive serial X-Terminals that provide adequate performance for
80-90% of today's applications when operating at high baud rates. The
Aurora SX products' support of high baud rates make this possible."

HIGH SPEED DATA COMMUNICATIONS SAVES TIME AND MONEY

The cost of high-speed modems continue to fall making it cost
effective to use speeds as high as 38.4K baud, or even 56.2K baud for
business data communications. New products from Telebit and other
modem vendors support these high speeds over standard telephone
connections. Moving data at these speeds can save significant time and
money. The 400SX and 800SX products enable users to take full
advantage of these higher transmission speeds without using all the
power of their SPARC system. Most serial ports rely on the system's
CPU to manage the I/O which significantly loads the system reducing
throughput and slowing applications. The 400SX and 800SX products
incorporate performance features that allow them to off-load the CPU
and maintain high throughput under the most demanding I/O
applications. The SX products have intelligent communications
controllers from Cirrus Logic which have integrated RISC processors to
handle the I/O. They also include large 8K buffers that allow them to
maintain the set baud rate all the way up to 115.2K baud.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Multiport Model  400SX -  $995.00       
Multiport Model  800SX - $1695.00

Available immediately, each of these products includes a simple-to-install,
optimized device driver, a helpful User's Guide, a one year limited warranty,
overnight-replacement maintenance policy for the first year, and telephone 
support for the life of the product. These products join a family of the most
popular SBus multiplexers available.

SPARC INTERNATIONAL VERIFIED COMPATIBILITY

The SPARC Verified logo indicates that SPARC International has tested and
verified these products as being compatible with SPARC Systems that meet 
SCD 1.1. These SPARC systems include: 

        All SMCC SPARCstations and SPARCservers, including the 600MP series
        Goldstar SPARC systems 
        Hyundai SPARC systems 
        OPUS SPARC systems
        Solbourne S4000
        Tatung SPARC systems
        TriGem SPARC systems
	** Additional systems are tested on a regular basis **

                                      ###

Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Aurora Technologies, Inc., develops, markets,
manufactures and supports enhancement products for SPARC workstations. These
include SBus multiplexer cards, communications products, peripherals, 
interfaces and SBus expansion products, all specifically designed to increase 
the performance and functionality of SPARC workstations. Founded in 1988 by 
Dennis Daudelin and Daniel Kozin, former members of Sun's engineering and 
marketing teams, Aurora is a member of SPARC International and an Advantage 
member of Sun's Catalyst program.

SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International.
Multiport Model 400SX and 800SX are trademarks of Aurora Technologies, Inc.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the proprietary property of
their respective owners.
===============================================================================
        Aurora Technologies, Inc., 176 Second Avenue, Waltham, MA 02154
                   (617) 290-4800 Voice  (617) 290-4844 Fax
===============================================================================