SAN JOSE, Calif., November 8, 1999 -- Leading high-bandwidth network IC provider Allayer Communications today announced the appointment of Sam Laymoun to the newly created post of vice president of sales for North America, effective immediately. Laymoun brings more than 20 years of proven semiconductor experience to his new role at Allayer. Most recently, Laymoun served in sales management at AMCC, where he was instrumental in achieving substantial revenue growth, winning key design wins, and establishing key strategic partnerships with leading networking OEMs.

"We are pleased to have Mr. Laymoun as our new Vice President of North American Sales," says Dr. Cheng-chung Shih, president and founder of Allayer Communications. "Mr. Laymoun's extensive experience in the semiconductor industry makes him a welcome addition to the executive team. His successful track record in developing strategic partnerships at all of the leading networking companies make him a valued contributor as Allayer expands its sales effort in order to capitalize on the explosive growth of the communications infrastructure."

During his nine-year tenure at AMCC, Laymoun was instrumental in winning key strategic designs and was in sales management based in Silicon Valley. Prior to joining AMCC, Laymoun held various marketing and engineering management positions at National Semiconductor, Fairchild Semiconductor, Unisys and Control Data. Laymoun holds an MS from the University of Minnesota and a BS degree from University of Texas. Laymoun holds a patent in semiconductor design.

As Vice President of Sales for North America, Laymoun will be responsible for overseeing all of the sales activities of the company in North America. He will report directly to Dr. Cheng-chung Shih, president and CEO. Among his responsibilities will be managing the Allayer sales representative and distributor network in the region and handling the strategic account sales program that supports major U.S. and Canadian network systems companies.

"Allayer is an outstanding opportunity," says Mr. Laymoun. "As a veteran of twenty years in the semiconductor and networking industries, I am impressed with the strategic plan and execution focus of the Allayer team. Allayer has an unusual combination of system design expertise, a patented modular system architecture ideal for high-bandwidth network equipment, and a world-class design and manufacturing operation. I am excited to join the Allayer team and expect my sales and marketing expertise to contribute to Allayer's continued success in the communications ICs market."

About Allayer

Allayer Communications was founded in 1997 to design, develop, manufacture and market high-performance silicon solutions for the global network. The company utilizes a combination of leading edge architecture, mixed-signal design expertise and multiple silicon process technologies to offer IC products for the Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet communications market. The corporate name -- pronounced "All-layer" -- represents the companyıs long-range intention to provide silicon solutions for all levels of the OSI networking model.

Allayer is backed by over $12.5 million in venture funding from Greylock, Acer Capital America, VenGlobal Capital. Allayer's corporate headquarters is located in San Jose. Sales and consulting engineering offices are located throughout the world. For further information about Allayer and its products, please contact: Marketing Communication Department, Allayer Communications, 107 Bonaventure Drive, San Jose, CA 95134, phone: 408/570-0888, or visit the corporate Web site at: http://www.allayer.com.

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