News & Events
Intersil Targets Power in Portable Markets to Enhance Freedom of Mobility

-- Focus on improving battery run time with advanced power and battery management solutions~-- Intersil representatives will be at the Intel Developer Forum Spring Conference in San Francisco

IRVINE, CA, February 25, 2002 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a leading provider of power management solutions for PCs, peripheral products, and file servers, today announced their continuing move into the notebook and handheld appliance markets with a growing portfolio of advanced Endura™ mobile-optimized products. Intersil is focused on providing power solutions that further liberate notebook computers for portable productivity by improving battery life and providing embedded solutions for wireless networking. Endura mobile power solutions are the result of collaboration with key mobile CPU architects, industry leaders, and a strategic development partnership with PowerSmart, Inc., experts in advanced processor-based battery monitoring and charging.

“Our corporate mission is to enhance the freedom of mobility for users of notebook PCs and handheld devices by providing innovative solutions in power management and wireless networking,” said Rick Furtney, vice president and general manager of Intersil’s High Performance Analog business. “We have invested heavily in research and development to provide space- and energy-saving power management solutions and highly integrated embedded wireless networking chip sets for notebooks and other portable appliances. Our new product development strategy leverages our leadership in power management and WLANs to develop devices that increase both the operating time of mobile devices and unwired performance.”

Intersil’s Endura power management products are now designed into over half of the world’s desktop motherboards that use the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor and AMD Athlon™ processor. Intersil has developed a broad customer base of industry leaders including ASUSTek, Fujitsu Siemens, Samsung and Legend QDI who produce both notebook and desktop PCs. Collaboration with these customers and with Intel and AMD, the world’s leading architects of mobile microprocessors and support circuitry, has provided Intersil’s designers with unique insights into market needs and directions, along with specific power management product parameters. This depth of experience and knowledge is enabling a whole new generation of Endura power solutions that add more freedom to mobility.

Key Portable Power Issue – Battery Run Time
Liberation from wires and freedom of mobility last only as long as the battery can supply energy. There are two primary factors that affect the duration of the wireless experience — power management and battery management. Power management relates to how efficiently battery power is consumed. Battery management involves how accurately the battery charge level is monitored and how quickly and precisely it is restored. Both power and battery management are extremely important in determining how long it will be before the user must once again become wired. Intersil’s strategy and product roadmaps offer solutions to both sides of the run-time issue.

“High-performance mobile computing with wireless network connectivity continues to grow, and as a result, people are spending more time away from work areas that have direct access to a continuous power supply,” said Furtney. “Notebook PCs are not truly liberated if a connection to a power supply and network cable must be maintained. Intersil is taking a proactive approach to addressing these battery life and network connectivity issues through innovative power control systems and low-drain wireless technology.”

Intersil’s Portable Power Solutions Improve Run Time and Reduce Costs
Intersil’s Endura line of mobile power management products offers improvements in circuit integration and reduction in package size to save space and cost, power efficiency to increase battery run time and heat distribution to increase reliability. Recently announced products include ICs for processor-specific core power management, USB hot plug, I/O power control, embedded wireless communications and advanced graphics and double data rate (DDR) memory power. Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung and other leading manufacturers are now designing these power solutions into their notebook PCs.

Recently released Endura power products for the notebook market include:

• ISL6215 Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor Core Voltage Regulator
• ISL6205 Synchronous Buck MOSFET Driver - up to 24 V
• ISL6223 AMD Mobile Athlon CPU Core Voltage Regulator
• ISL6211 Transmeta™ Crusoe™ CPU Core Voltage Regulator
• ISL6119 Dual Channel USB Hot Plug Controller
• IPM6220 Multi-Output System Regulator - 12 V, 5 V, 3.3 V
• ISL6225 DDR Memory Power Control

Future Endura mobile power products to be released in 2002 will include single PWM ICs with integrated MOSFETs, solutions for advancing mobile CPUs, best-in-class power solutions for advanced high data rate memory, power for graphics processors and battery monitoring and charging solutions resulting from the PowerSmart partnership.

Intersil Partners with PowerSmart for Battery Management Innovation
Intersil has partnered with PowerSmart, headquartered in Shelton, CT, for the joint development of ICs, firmware, and software for battery power management applications. PowerSmart designs and manufactures the industry’s most accurate smart battery ICs, charger ICs and modules for portable PCs and smart handheld devices. These technologies complement Intersil’s power technologies and aid in fostering the next generation of highly efficient and accurate battery management for handheld devices.

Intersil Takes Power Story to the IDF Spring Conference
Intersil representatives will be at the Intel Developer Forum Spring Conference in San Francisco. They will be available in booth #500 to discuss the latest power trends in both desktop and portable applications, and will outline Intersil’s strategy for serving these markets. Among key messages will be a progress report on the efforts of Intersil and Primarion who are jointly developing an entirely new power management paradigm. This new paradigm is a processor-controlled smart power management system for multi-GHz processors used in high-end computers and servers.

Intersil Power Management Technology
The Intersil Endura product family consists of leading power management solutions for desktop and mobile PCs, workstations, Internet appliances, I/O cards, RAID systems and high-availability servers. The Endura family includes high-efficiency solutions that are used in portable PCs and mobile information appliances as well as residential gateway products. Intersil’s leadership position has grown, capturing over 50 percent of the AMD Athlon™ and Intel® Pentium® 4 processors and providing power management solutions for next generation desktop, portable and wireless communications devices. The company is the first to introduce a complete cost effective power solution for new and next generation PCs that uses a multiphase power configuration to achieve unparalleled precision and efficiency. Learn more about Intersil’s Endura products at: http://www.intersil.com/endura About Intersil
Intersil is a global leader in designing innovative wireless networking and high performance analog solutions that enable wireless access to video, data and voice in homes, offices and public places. Creating advanced power management products, Intersil provides reliable solutions for file servers, portable information appliances and over half of all computer microprocessors manufactured today. With a rich high performance analog and mixed signal portfolio, Intersil brings added value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that bring portable connectivity to people wherever they live, work or travel. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Intersil has offices in cities throughout the US, Europe and Asia. 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

Endura is a trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
Athlon and Duron are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices.
Transmeta and Crusoe are trademarks of Transmeta Corporation.
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.