News & Events
Intersil and ParthusCeva Announce Wireless LAN Licensing Partnership

-- Industry leaders combine WLAN and licensing expertise for 802.11 IP solutions

MILPITAS & SAN JOSE, CA, February 24, 2003 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions, and ParthusCeva, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCVA; LSE: PCV), the leading licensor of digital signal processors (DSP) and applications-specific platform Intellectual Property (IP), announced today a partnership to license Intersil’s 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) IP to third parties.

"This partnership is a very significant development which will accelerate the deployment of WLAN technology across both business and consumer applications. Intersil is the acknowledged leader in 802.11 wireless solutions and ParthusCeva has a proven track record of delivering complex wireless technology under an IP licensing model,” said Allen Nogee, senior analyst at In-Stat/MDR. “This unique combination can unlock the enormous potential of WLAN technology."

ParthusCeva will provide wireless IP expertise, sales, marketing and customer support in licensing Intersil’s 802.11 Prism® Intellectual Property (Baseband Processor and Medium Access Controller) to the electronics industry. PRISM solutions are the number one deployed 802.11 WLAN technology in the industry. In addition, Intersil will supply PHY (radio front-end) products and reference designs - delivering a complete WLAN product solution to licensees. This up-integration strategy will enable new, wireless-capable products that will serve growing consumer demand for wireless connectivity wherever they live, work or play.

“The licensing of our WLAN IP is one of the next steps in addressing the needs of a growing market in which Wi-Fi is becoming pervasive and working its way into a diverse and exciting set of applications. Some of these applications required the full integration of the digital portion of the chip set,” said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil’s Wireless Networking Product Group. “ParthusCeva’s experience in delivering complex wireless IP solutions to the semiconductor industry is a perfect complement to Intersil’s WLAN expertise. Together we can generate even greater market penetration with PRISM based technology.”

“ParthusCeva is a recognized leader in the licensing of wireless-IP and we wanted a partner with silicon proven, brand-recognized 802.11 IP to complement our customer base of leading semiconductor companies,” said Kevin Fielding, chief executive officer of ParthusCeva. “Intersil is the recognized wireless networking leader and this new partnership will provide a convenient one-stop shop for WLAN manufacturers to add valuable IP support to their product portfolio.”

The Intersil and ParthusCeva partnership delivers four powerful advantages to customer licensees:

• Intersil and ParthusCeva deliver the most complete product portfolio of 802.11 a/b/g solutions.
• Licensees receive industry leading WLAN technology, which is both silicon verified and proven interoperable in the field – a unique industry proposition.
• By leveraging the embedded/IP strategy, licensees can significantly reduce WLAN bill of materials to effectively broaden the range of products and markets that can be WLAN connected.
• Licensees can slash both development cost and time-to-market for WLAN enabled products by using the complete WLAN solution including digital/analog IP, radio front-end and reference designs.

About ParthusCeva
Headquartered in San Jose, with principal offices in Dublin, Ireland and Herzeliah, Israel, ParthusCeva (NASDAQ: PCVA; LSE: PCV) is a leading licensor of DSP and application-specific platform Intellectual Property (IP) to the semiconductor industry. ParthusCeva was created through the combination of Parthus Technologies plc, a leading provider of application-specific platform IP, and Ceva, formerly the licensing division of DSP Group, Inc. The CUSIP number for the ParthusCeva common stock is 70212E106 and the ISIN number is 70212E1064. About Intersil
Intersil Corporation is a global semiconductor leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions. Intersil’s product portfolios address four fast growing markets – flat panel displays, optical storage (CD and DVD recordable), power management and wireless networking. Intersil brings added customer value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that enhance the computing experience for people wherever they live, work or travel. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the company's web site and career page at: www.intersil.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are based upon Intersil Corporation’s (“Intersil”) management’s current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about Intersil’s business and industry. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “potential,” “continue,” and variations of these words (or negatives of these words) or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil’s WLAN product group include, but are not limited to: the slowdown in the technology sector generally and the semiconductor industry specifically; our ability to successfully deploy our up integration strategy; the rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices in enterprises and in homes; the rate at which consumers purchase small handheld Internet appliances, portable computing devices, and notebook computers with embedded wireless; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s wireless access technologies; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the ability of our customers to manage inventory; the loss of a key customer; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; silicon wafer pricing and the availability and quality of our foundry capacity and raw materials; availability, pricing, and quality of third party foundry and assembly and test capacity and raw materials; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party foundries and assembly and test facilities, and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the risks of producing products with new suppliers and at new fabrication and assembly and test facilities; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies; the effectiveness of Intersil’s expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks inherent in acquisitions, including the acquisition of Elantec Semiconductor, Inc. (including integration issues; costs and unanticipated expenditures; changing relationships with customers, suppliers, and strategic partners; potential contractual, employment, and intellectual property issues; or that the anticipated benefits of the acquisition are not realized); intellectual property disputes, customer indemnification claims, and other litigation risks; Intersil’s ability to develop, market, and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; the quality of Intersil’s products and any repair or replacement costs; the risks and uncertainties associated with Intersil’s global operations, particularly in light of the war on terrorism; the effects of natural disasters, international conflicts and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received and the ability to fill those orders in a given fiscal quarter; and other factors. Intersil’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Intersil filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) (which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov) discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this communication and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements. PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
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