News & Events
Intersil To Demonstrate Broadband Wireless Network Connectivity at Cable Industry’s Leading Technology Conference
Installation to demonstrate wireless as premier technology for home broadband networking
Cisco wireless system will connect 150 attendees
IRVINE, CA, AND VAIL, CO, August 7, 2000 — Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), announced today it will "unwire" the cable industry’s summer conference this week in Vail, Colo., to showcase its PRISM® WLAN technology for the home and office. Intersil’s demonstration will showcase the benefit of wireless as the ideal networking technology for distributing broadband content throughout the homes and businesses of cable subscribers.
IRVINE, CA, AND VAIL, CO, August 7, 2000 Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), the worlds leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), announced today it will "unwire" the cable industrys summer conference this week in Vail, Colo., to showcase its PRISM® WLAN technology for the home and office. Intersils demonstration will showcase the benefit of wireless as the ideal networking technology for distributing broadband content throughout the homes and businesses of cable subscribers.
CableLabs® annual conference, which takes place this week August 7, 8 and 9 at Marriotts Mountain Resort, will host research and development executives from leading cable system operators in North and South America. The event seeks to identify relevant technologies that will help cable operators deliver leading-edge services to subscribers, including broadband Internet access.
"With the cable industry looking closely at extending the broadband advantage of cable bandwidth throughout homes, were pleased to have the opportunity at this conference to demonstrate how wireless technology can support this initiative," said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of PRISM Wireless Products at Intersil. "The cable industry is making great strides in delivering a broadband pipeline into homes. With wireless, we can take this advantage a step further by putting this broadband content at users fingertips wherever they are in a home or office setting."
At the conference, Intersil will provide meeting attendees with Cisco 340 Series Wireless LAN Cards. These PRISM-based PC cards fit into attendee laptops and provide a wireless link to Cisco 340 Series Access Points (APs), also PRISM-based. Three APs have been installed to provide coverage throughout the conference floor and exhibit area. Two Cisco wireless bridges will connect the first floor network to a second floor network of two additional APs so that attendees can enjoy coverage in the restaurant and lounge areas. This is a fast, 11 megabit-per-second (Mbps) Ethernet-equivalent wireless network which allows users to share presentation files, send e-mail and surf the Internet anywhere under the wireless "umbrella" without being tethered by a network wire.
The 11 Mbps speed of PRISM wireless networking perfectly matches the cable industrys strategy to bring high-speed services to the home through Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) pipelines, more commonly known as cable modems. In the near future, Intersil envisions a home environment where multiple information appliances will be wirelessly linked together to this broadband connection through a Residential Gateway product, most likely a home PC or set-top box device. Intersils 802.11 wireless solutions are ideal for these applications because they eliminate the costs and hassles of installing network wiring while giving users the freedom to work and play anywhere in the home.
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, the Cahners In-Stat Group called Intersil "the dominant force in the WLAN chip set marketplace with their PRISM chipsets holding the majority of market share." PRISM technology is designed to comply with the IEEEs 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 chips are used in WLAN systems from industry-leading companies including Alcatel, Nokia, Siemens, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, Nortel, Samsung, SpectraLink, Symbol, and Zoom.
About Intersil
Irvine, Calif.-based Intersil uses its semiconductor expertise to enable highly integrated voice, data and video communications. Intersil's integrated communications portfolio includes PRISM® Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) chip sets that enable mobile connectivity products for the home and office; analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband access to wireless and wired Wide Area Networks (WANs); and power management products that enable 24x7 reliability in network servers, next generation PCs and information appliances. For more information about Intersil, visit the company's Internet homepage at www.intersil.com.
This press release contains statements relating to the WLAN market 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; our ability to obtain FCC approval and WECA certification on next generation wireless 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.
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PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Corporation.
