News & Events
Intersil's PRISM Technology On Board New GTRAN Wireless™ Dual-Mode 802.11/CDMA Wireless Modem Card

-- GTRAN Wireless' DotSurfer™ 5000 modem card combines wireless LAN and WAN connectivity on a single product

IRVINE, CA, APRIL 22, 2002 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), announced today that GTRAN Wireless, Inc., is utilizing Intersil’s PRISM technology in a new dual-mode design that couples Wi-Fi (802.11b) and CDMA wireless data on a single client card. GTRAN Wireless’ new DotSurfer 5000 CDMA + Wi-Fi combo card allows mobile professionals to gain access to e-mail from virtually anywhere. Users entering a “hot spot” within range of a wireless LAN access point can connect to e-mail or the Internet at speeds up to 11 megabits-per-second (Mbps), or remotely access e-mail via CDMA2000 1X cellular data technology. GTRAN Wireless also offers GSM/GPRS subscribers similar advantages with the DotSurfer 5500 GPRS + Wi-Fi combo card.

To develop its dual-band card, GTRAN Wireless turned to Intersil’s PRISM 2.5 WLAN chipset, the world’s most highly integrated solution for developing Wi-Fi devices. PRISM 2.5 integrates two separate integrated circuits – the Baseband Processor and the Medium Access Controller (MAC) – onto a single chip, thus freeing up sufficient board real estate to add CDMA capability onto the same card. The resulting card affords the user anywhere, anytime wireless data access.

“GTRAN Wireless’ new combo card delivers users the best of both worlds in wireless networking – very high data rates when near a home, office, or hot-spot wireless local area network plus the ability to get Internet access over a vast wide area network,” said Dave Feller, director of Marketing for Intersil’s Wireless Networking Business. “We’re pleased to play an integral part in this new wireless design.”

“As wide-area and local-area networking technologies continue to converge, the ability to develop products that can handle both protocols is critical,” said Jay Wasserman, vice president of Global Marketing of GTRAN Wireless. “Intersil’s highly integrated Wi-Fi chip set solution allows us to easily add a second function onto a single card.”

The Global Wireless Market Embraces PRISM WLAN Technology
“Intersil is the number one manufacturer of wireless LAN chipsets and has been a driving force behind the success of WLANs,” said a May 2001 WLAN report from Cahners In-Stat Group. Since introducing the PRISM WLAN chip set in 1996, industry-leading companies including Accton, Actiontec, Alcatel, ASUSTeK, BroMax, Casio, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, D-Link, GemTek, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Legend, Linksys, Nokia, Nortel, Panasonic, Quanta, Samsung, Sharp, Siemens, SOHOware, Sony, SpectraLink, Symbol, Z-Com and Zoom have incorporated PRISM chips in WLAN product designs. 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.

About GTRAN Wireless
GTRAN Wireless™ is a world leader in development and delivery of high-speed mobile data. GTRAN Wireless has a complete line of wireless data products, consisting of DotSurfer™ PC cards, OEM modules, fixed terminals and handsets, based on leading 2.5/3G (CDMA, GPRS, UMTS) and Wi-Fi (802.11b) technologies. Starting deployment in international markets, GTRAN Wireless has developed extensive experience in assisting data centric customers and solving network deployment challenges. Founded in 1999, the company has 180 employees located in the US, Canada, Korea and Taiwan with corporate headquarters in Westlake Village, California. Details on released products and recent press releases can be found at www.gtranwireless.com. 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

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 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 in enterprises and homes, 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 and quality of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; the effectiveness of Intersil’s expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks inherent in acquisitions (including integration issues; costs and unanticipated expenditures; changing relationships with customers, suppliers, and strategic partners; potential contractual, employment, and intellectual property issues; risks of not securing regulatory approvals; accounting treatment and charges; and the risks that the acquisition cannot be completed successfully, or that the anticipated benefits of the acquisition are not realized); intellectual property disputes, customer indemnification claims, and other litigation risks; Intersil’s ability to develop, market, and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner, as well as other risk factors. Intersil’s recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other Intersil filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) (which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s Web site at www.sec.gov) discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. 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. PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
GTRAN Wireless and DotSurfer are trademarks of GTRAN Wireless, Inc.
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.