News & Events
Intersil Sampling True WLAN Global Radio Capable Of Covering All Regions and All 802.11 Standards

-- PRISM WorldRadio™ delivers seamless, worldwide tuning capability~-- Performance & low power consumption surpasses all other 802.11 dual-band WLAN solutions

Milpitas, CA, June 24, 2003 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions, today announced it is sampling PRISM WorldRadio (WR) with key customers and leading Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs). The newest member of the PRISM® WLAN portfolio is a two-chip, dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) solution designed to provide true global wireless connectivity. PRISM WorldRadio is Intersil’s second-generation dual-band WLAN solution and leverages the experience gained from our first-generation PRISM Duette™ chip set. This PRISM dual-band WLAN solution sets new standards in world-class power, performance, software, security and cost.

PRISM WorldRadio enables users to establish a WLAN network connection throughout the world with any standards-compliant wireless 802.11 infrastructure they encounter, including existing and proposed standards — 802.11a, b, d, g, h, i or j. PRISM WorldRadio is capable of tuning frequency ranges that cover the entire worldwide wireless LAN spectrum (2.40 – 2.50 and 4.9 – 5.85 GHz). PRISM WorldRadio also delivers the industry’s best power performance, consuming up to 75% less power than competitive designs, allowing users to spend more time connected on battery power.

“PRISM WorldRadio is an advanced wireless networking technology that essentially eliminates all barriers when connecting to whatever 802.11 network you may encounter worldwide. PRISM WorldRadio will provide Wi-Fi users greater mobility and interoperability than they experience with their cell phones,” said Rich Beyer, President and CEO of Intersil. “There’s been strong growth in wireless networking across many regions of the world, but each region has different spectrum allocations or regulatory requirements; even within regions there are networks based on the three varieties and two bands of the 802.11 standard. PRISM WorldRadio overcomes these barriers to deliver true, worldwide client coverage. The PRISM WorldRadio solution also delivers best-in-class performance in throughput, range and power consumption. Along with advanced security and support functions, this gives our customers the most advanced 802.11 solution in the industry.”

Kurt Scherf, Vice President of Research for Parks Associates said, “To achieve the ultimate vision of wireless networking anywhere, there needs to be a universal card that provides users with wireless connection from their office, living room, the local coffee shop, an airport or hotel, and literally any public WLAN hot spot. Intersil is the world leader in WLAN silicon, and its solution for this world radio vision addresses the standards compliance, security, performance, power consumption and other issues in such a way as to yield a very stable, high performance solution for any wireless user, anywhere.”

Standards, Bands & Regional Coverage
PRISM WorldRadio is designed for compliance to each of the 802.11 standards (802.11a, b, d, g, h or j) and with the ability to identify, associate and connect to networks employing access points operating to any of the standards. For true worldwide operations, PRISM WorldRadio self-configures to the appropriate frequency and operating parameters specific to any region. For instance, in the 5 GHz band, European regions have different and separated WLAN spectrums. PRISM WR fully supports the 2.40 -2.50 and 4.9 - 5.85 GHz frequency ranges with certified dynamic frequency selection (DFS) and transmit power control (TPC) capabilities to ensure non-interference with specified radar operations. PRISM WR also complies with the proposed 802.11j amendment for operation within the 4.9 - 5.1 band in Japan.

PRISM WorldRadio Technical Features
PRISM WorldRadio features a dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) zero intermediate frequency (ZIF) transceiver chip and an integrated Baseband Processor and Medium Access Controller (BBP/MAC) chip. ZIF architecture eliminates the need for an intermediate frequency, reducing components and complexity, thereby reducing size and cost. The BBP/MAC chip handles both frequency bands and both OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) and CCK (Complementary Code Keying) modulations necessary for support of IEEE802.11b, .11g or .11a networks.

Up to 50% Increase in Throughput
PRISM WorldRadio employs Intersil’s PRISM Nitro™ technology, a firmware upgrade that is part of Intersil’s SingleSource™ Driver suite. PRISM Nitro technology delivers up to a 3x improvement in throughput for 802.11g clients operating in mixed-mode wireless networks and up to 50% greater throughput performance in 802.11a and 802.11g only networks. PRISM Nitro technology is fully IEEE 802.11 compliant, and uses prioritization algorithms and enhanced protection mechanisms to significantly increase network performance.

Best-in-Class Power Management
The PRISM WorldRadio solution includes new power management technology that has the lowest standby current, receive current and average idle current in direct testing against competitor’s WLAN solutions. The Power Save Mode feature allows PRISM WorldRadio to save up to 35% receive mode current versus competitive solutions. PRISM WorldRadio consumes significantly lower power than competitive solutions over a wide range of user activity; this equates to longer battery life for mobile handheld and notebook users.

Intersil's power management IC, the ISL6411, powers the PRISM WR solution. The ISL6411's 4 X 4 mm quad flat no-lead package significantly reduces board space to accommodate shrinking form factors. In addition, this highly integrated IC greatly reduces the bill of materials by combining three low drop-out regulators, a reset function and extensive current and thermal protection functions into a single chip. On-chip logic provides sequencing for BBP, MAC and analog supply voltage outputs.

“The PRISM WR solution is 100% compliant to all IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards, including the recently adopted 802.11g Standard, and offers our customers a reduction in total bill of materials along with the WLAN industry’s leading features and performance,” said Larry Ciaccia, Vice President and General Manager of Intersil’s Wireless Networking Product Group. “Intersil customers are designing innovative new dual-band products such as the Universal Client Card with our new PRISM WorldRadio solution and PRISM Nitro technology. They are leveraging PRISM WR’s dramatically improved performance and increased battery life, offering compelling value to the market.”

Comprehensive Security Enhancements PRISM WorldRadio fully supports Wi-Fi Protected Access™ (WPA) and the IEEE 802.11i draft security standard with high-speed encryption capabilities for both the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) and the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Intersil has also integrated within the drivers and reference design solutions of the PRISM WR chip set, Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX) support and Meetinghouse’s AEGIS Authentication API to enable fast, easy-to-implement compliance with 802.11i, WPA and CCX. Intersil’s industry leading security solution also works with Funk Software’s Odyssey® Client WLAN access control and security system to provide interoperability and promote ease of use with virtually all major Windows operating systems.

PRISM WorldRadio Quality of Service Improvements
Intersil has implemented Quality of Service (QoS) improvements for the PRISM WR solution through software and firmware enhancements of the MAC to support video streaming, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and multimedia related services for the home and enterprise. These new Wireless Media Enhancements (WME), in combination with the IEEE 802.11a & g high-data-rates, provide a significant advantage to 802.11-based WLAN users by allowing immediate migration to new multimedia applications. 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 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. PRISM is a registered trademark and PRISM WorldRadio, PRISM Duette, PRISM Nitro and SingleSource are trademarks of Intersil Americas Inc.
Odyssey is a registered trademark of Funk Software.
Wi-Fi Protected Access is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.