News & Events
Intersil and Silicon Wave Co-Developing Bluetooth & 802.11b Dual-Mode WLAN Solution

— One module will deliver both Bluetooth and IEEE802.11b wireless connectivity

IRVINE, CA., November 28, 2000 — Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for IEEE 802.11b Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), and Silicon Wave, a leader in the development of single-chip Bluetooth™ radios, announced that development is underway for dual-mode WLAN solutions that will allow laptops and other devices to wirelessly connect to a company LAN or to companion devices. This represents a major step forward in miniaturization, user convenience and the convergence of the two leading wireless standards.

The goal of the Intersil/Silicon Wave co-development effort is to yield a series of dual-mode solutions, all of which marry a fully compliant Bluetooth radio with a WECA Wi-Fi™ certified IEEE 802.11b-compliant radio on the same platform. The initial platforms offered will be Cardbus32 and MiniPCI. An additional goal is to employ dynamic switching so both radios can use a common antenna. These dual-mode radios will be substantially smaller than two standalone solutions.

"The IEEE 802.11b is the most widely adopted standard for high-speed wireless networking with literally hundreds of products on the market now," said Greg Williams, CEO and President of Intersil Corporation. "With the Bluetooth standard, users can enjoy the seamless and automatic interoperation of several devices over short range without wires. We’re satisfied that both of these wireless technologies can reside on the same card, giving users the best of both wireless worlds with ease-of-use, small size and at an affordable price."

Intersil has already developed several Reference Designs for IEEE 802.11b-based systems and Silicon Wave was first to market with their Odyssey™ Radio Solution for Bluetooth connectivity. Development teams made up of experts from each company are developing a complete Reference Design that solves all design, operating and manufacturing issues involved in having both these advanced technologies on the same card. The companies will deliver this Reference Design to manufacturers who want to move quickly into the production of PCMCIA cards and MiniPCI dual-mode cards.

Intersil’s PRISM^® Wireless Local Area Networking solutions are widely recognized as leading the industry in IEEE802.11b-based systems marketed by such heavyweights as Alcatel, Cisco, 3Com and many others. Silicon Wave designs RF systems-on-chip for next generation communications products that require small, low-power solutions and is considered a leader in providing highly-integrated radio components supporting Bluetooth wireless technology.

"By working closely with Intersil, we are able to assure consumers and manufacturers of the compatibility of these two dynamic technologies," says Dave Lyon, CEO of Silicon Wave. "The DMR technology is the first of its kind and will likely become a trend for multi-protocol support to be incorporated into consumer products."

"Intersil and Silicon Wave provide complementary technologies for wireless zones including the home, office and public places," said Greg Williams, Intersil President and CEO. "Silicon Wave is fielding entire RF systems-on-chip for Bluetooth, the emerging specification for personal connectivity. Intersil’s PRISM solution is aimed at full-featured wireless Ethernet applications under the IEEE’s 802.11b standard. We expect these two standards to become the prevailing standards and we envision the development of a wide variety of information appliances that will use these two complementary technologies."

Bluetooth technology supports 1 megabit per second (Mbps) data rates in the 2.4 GHz band and communication at a range of up to 30 feet indoors. Such operation is perfect for synchronizing web appliances, cell phones or other Internet browsing devices. Systems that comply with the IEEE’s 802.11b standard can operate over 10 times faster (11 Mbps) and at over 5x the range (150 feet indoors). Williams said, "Though each standard is different, we feel that each is perfect for its application and we believe new devices will not only proliferate around each standard, but become vital data connectivity tools just about everywhere people live, work or visit."

Adoption of PRISM WLAN Technology
Since introducing the PRISM WLAN chip set in 1996, over fifty companies have incorporated PRISM chips in more than 100 product designs. In a May 2000 report, Cahners In-Stat Group called Intersil "the dominant force in the WLAN chip set marketplace with their PRISM chip sets holding the majority of market share." PRISM technology is designed to comply with the IEEE’s 802.11 global standard, and Intersil is a founding sponsor of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), whose Wi-Fi™ brand is a mark of compatibility for 802.11-based systems. PRISM/work™ and PRISM/home™ products are used in WLAN systems from industry-leading companies including Alcatel, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, D-Link, Nokia, Nortel, Samsung, Siemens, SOHOware, SpectraLink, Symbol, and Zoom.

About Silicon Wave
Based in San Diego, Silicon Wave designs and develops RF systems—on—chip for use in wireless and broadband communication systems and products. The company’s mission is to be the leader in system—level RF ICs. Silicon Wave products include Odyssey solutions for Bluetooth wireless communications and the Sentinel™ line of silicon tuners and modules for cable modems and digital set—top boxes. Founded in 1997, the company was the first to deliver a Bluetooth-qualified, single—chip radio modem and is an Associate Member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. The company’s Web site is located at www.siliconwave.com. [Editor’s note: Silicon Wave media contact is: The Hoffman Agency, Paul Barbieri, (408) 286-2611, pbarbieri@hoffman.com.]

About Intersil
Intersil is a leading supplier of semiconductors, reference designs and software for wireless access and communications markets. Intersil applies analog, mixed-signal and radio frequency (RF) expertise to products that enable wireless access to broadband media; provide reliable power management for PCs, files servers and portable information appliances; and convert analog and digital signals in cellular and Internet infrastructure. For more information about Intersil, visit the company's Internet homepage at www.intersil.com.

This press release contains information relating to the growing demand for wireless products that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management’s current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about our business and our industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations 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 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 the forward looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil in connection with the wireless market include, but are not limited to, the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s wireless technologies and products; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; 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 of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; intellectual property disputes; as well as other risk factors detailed from time to time in Intersil’s filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

# # #

PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Corporation.

Silicon Wave, the SiW product name prefix, Odyssey and the diamond logo design are trademarks of Silicon Wave, Inc.

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA)

Bluetooth is a trademark owned by its proprietor and used by Silicon Wave under license.

All other product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.