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Intersil Announces New PRISM® 2.5 Reference Design with USB Interface for Embedded Wireless LAN Solutions

— Complete solution for designing low-cost, high-performance IEEE 802.11b WLAN products

IRVINE, CA, April 19, 2001 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading provider of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), announced today an innovative new reference design with a Universal Serial Bus (USB 1.1) interface based upon Intersil’s PRISM® 2.5 chip set. The PRISM 2.5 chip set is designed for small form-factor, embedded and external USB based applications. It includes the world’s first single-chip Baseband Processor (BBP) and Medium Access Controller (MAC).

This PRISM 2.5® based Reference Design (ISL37300U) will provide all technical information necessary for the manufacture of a complete WLAN adaptor in the form of a small mini-USB card that measures approximately 2-1/3 x 1-1/2 inches. Such cards are ideal for embedded WLAN applications. In addition, many companies are adopting USB interfaces for embedded cards and the PRISM 2.5® chip set’s ISL3873 BBP/MAC will allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to easily develop wireless LAN-capable products that connect to the host device using a USB connection. This solution will deliver full 11 megabit-per-second (Mbps) data rates and fully comply with the IEEE 802.11b standard, making it eligible for Wi-Fi™ certification.

"We’re seeing a clear trend toward embedded wireless LAN capability into laptops, PDAs and other small handheld networked appliances. The ISL37300U is Intersil’s smallest form factor reference design and was developed specifically to meet the growing need for embedded solutions. The new reference design will also enable very compact, external USB-based WLAN applications," said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of PRISM Wireless Products at Intersil. "As the market evolves, there will be an on-going need for these type of highly optimized solutions for specific applications and segments of the WLAN space."

The PRISM 2.5® Reference Design includes integrated circuits, software, firmware and a companion voltage-controlled oscillator to give systems manufacturers a highly integrated, full-featured solution for designing 802.11b-compliant wireless networking capability into small, handheld devices such as laptop PCs, Personal Digital Assistants and next generation "Web Pad" Internet appliance devices. PRISM 2.5® based products will provide users with wireless access to networks and the Internet for fast and efficient transmission of data, video and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

The new PRISM 2.5® Reference Design comes with all manufacturing data and necessary software. The contents include system schematics, board layout, Gerber files, bill-of-materials lists, software, firmware and documentation. For customers who use the reference design with minimum changes, system design effort and time-to-market can be reduced by up to 80 percent. The new reference design is compatible with Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT 4.0 and Millennium operating systems.

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, Linksys, Nokia, Nortel, Samsung, Scientific-Atlanta, Siemens, SOHOware, Sony, SpectraLink, Symbol Technologies, and Zoom.

About Intersil

Intersil is a leading supplier of semiconductors, reference designs and software for wireless access and communications analog 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, file 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 certain projections and business trends concerning the WLAN market that are 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 management’s current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about our business and 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. Furthermore, any forward-looking statements and projections made by others in this press release are not adopted by Intersil Holding Corporation ("Intersil") and Intersil is not responsible for the forward-looking statements and projections of others. 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 in connection with WLAN market include, but are not limited to: the rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s wireless technologies and products, including our embedded LAN applications; 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 ("SEC") which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s Web site www.sec.gov. 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.

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PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.

PRISM/work and PRISM/home are trademarks of Intersil Americas Inc.

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance.

All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.