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Intersil Launches Industry's Fastest 3.3-V RS-485/422 Transceiver IC

-- Offers fastest data transfer, low power consumption and operates from wide 10% tolerance supply

MILPITAS, CA, March 2, 2004 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog solutions, today announced the release of the new ISL43485, the industry’s fastest 3.3-V RS-485/422 serial data transceiver. The ISL43485 offers data rates up to 30 Mbps and operates reliably over a wider voltage range than some competitive products – 10% voltage tolerance yielding a 3- to 3.6-V supply range. The very high speed and broader supply range make this new IC an attractive upgrade from less capable competitive offerings. What is more, the ISL43485 draws a mere 15 nA of current in the shut-down mode making the IC a virtual non-load when not in use.

Applications for the ISL43485 include, but are not limited to, SCSI ‘Fast 20’ interfaces, factory automation, data loggers, security networks, building environmental control systems, industrial process control networks and level translators.

The ISL43485 presents a “single-unit load” to the RS-485 bus, which allows up to 32 transceivers on the network. The transceiver provides high-speed half-duplex performance over a single balanced twisted pair transmission line. RS-485, and RS-422, compliant differential signaling over the balanced transmission line, provide a high level of noise immunity and reliable long-run data transfer.

This high-performance IC is a half-duplex transceiver whose receive (Rx) and transmit (Tx) functions are multiplexed, reducing size and pin count to only 8-leads in an SOIC package. The enable and selector logic inputs, that are used to place the ISL43485 in the shutdown mode and to select transmit or receive operations, accept signals in excess of 5.5 V. That makes them compatible with 5-V logic families and enables easy interface to those circuits.

Receiver inputs feature a “fail-safe-if-open” design, which ensures a logic high Rx output if inputs are floating. This prevents the Rx output from chattering, and accidentally generating interrupts, if the receiver becomes disconnected from the bus. Driver/transmitter outputs are short-circuit protected, even for voltages exceeding the power supply voltage. Additionally, on-chip thermal shutdown circuitry disables the Tx outputs to prevent damage if power dissipation becomes excessive.

ISL43485 Technical Summary

• Industry’s fastest 3.3-V RS-485/422 serial data transceiver – 30 Mbps
• Half-duplex bi-directional operation
• RS-485 and RS-422 compliant differential signaling over balanced line
• 8-lead SOIC package
• Single-unit load for up to 32 nodes on the bus
• Extremely low 15 nA current in the shutdown mode
• Single +3.3 V supply, +/-10% voltage tolerance, +3 to +3.6 V range
• -7 to +12 V common-mode input voltage range for reliable operation over long, noisy runs
• Short-circuit protected driver outputs with on-chip thermal shutdown for extra protection
• Three-state Rx and Tx output pins
• 10 ns propagation delay, 1 ns skew
• Industrial temperature range

ISL43485 Pricing and Availability
The ISL43485IB is available now. The suggested resale price in 100 to 999-unit quantities is $1.31 for each IC. ICs are available on tape and reel. Cross-reference information is available online at: www.intersil.com/design/interface/rs-485.asp About Intersil
Intersil Corporation is a leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog semiconductors. The company’s products address three of the industry’s fastest growing markets - flat panel displays, optical storage (CD and DVD recordable) and power management. Intersil products include power management devices for battery management, hot-swap and hot-plug controllers, linear regulators, supervisory ICs, switching DC-DC regulators and power MOSFET drivers; optical storage laser diode drivers; DSL line drivers; video and high performance operational amplifiers; data converters; interface ICs; analog switches and multiplexers; crosspoint switches; voice-over-IP devices; and ICs for military, space and rad-hard applications. 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 release may include "forward looking statements" that are subject to risks and uncertainties. For information identifying economic, political, climatic, currency, regulatory, technological, competitive and some other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward looking statements, see Intersil’s Safe Harbor Forward Looking Statement disclaimer found at http://www.intersil.com/legal.asp, as well as Intersil’s SEC filings as updated from time to time, found at http://www.sec.gov. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.