Press Releases
New Intersil Hot Plug ICs Maintain System Uptime During Peripheral Replacement

— Hot Plug power management ICs facilitate hot swapping in mission-critical, high availability systems.

IRVINE, Calif., June 2, 2000 — Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), a leader of silicon technology for integrated communications applications, announced today the introduction of the HIP1015 and HIP1016 single rail hot swap power controllers. These integrated circuits (ICs) facilitate the hot swapping of peripherals in mission-critical, high-availability systems, such as file servers and computer systems.

Hot swap is the replacement of a load card, hard drive, CD-ROM drive, power supply, or other device while the system remains in operation. Power control during a hot swap event is critical. For example, capacitive loading during an insertion event could result in a large inrush of current that could cause the power supply to malfunction or, in the worst case, damage the system.

In a June 15, 1999 article, the USA Today reported that Internet auctioneer eBay lost an estimated $5 million during that year due to three system outages. "A single hour of downtime during credit card authorizations can negatively impact a retailer’s bottom line," said Romeo Estores, product marketing manager for Intersil. "The HIP1015 and HIP1016 greatly enhance system uptime and reliability by virtually eliminating unnecessary downtime that can be caused by component failure. This consistent system uptime provides reduced total cost of ownership for mission-critical systems."

The HIP1015 has an integrated charge pump that allows control of up to a +12V bus using an external N-channel MOSFET. The HIP1016 can be used to control much higher positive or negative voltages in a low side controller configuration. Both the HIP1015 and HIP1016 feature programmable overcurrent (OC) detection, current limiting regulation with time delay to latch off and soft start.

The HIP1015 is targeted for a +12V bus whereas the HIP1016 is targeted for +5V applications. Each has an undervoltage (UV) monitoring and reporting feature with a threshold level that is approximately 17% lower than the nominal +12V and +5V. Sample applications include power distribution control, hot plug components and circuitry, high side low voltage (< +15V) switching, and low side high voltage (> +15V, negative voltage) switching.

Packaging, Pricing and Availability
The HIP1015 and HIP1016 are immediately available in production quantities in an eight-lead SOIC package and tape and reel. Prices range from $2.42 in quantities of 2500 for the HIP1015CB and HIP1016CB, to $2.52 in quantities of 2500 for the tape and reel HIP1015CB-T and HIP1016CB-T. For more information about the HIP1015/16 or other Intersil hot plug devices, visit Intersil’s Web page at www.Intersil.com, or call 1-888-INTERSIL ext. 7986.

About Intersil Corporation
Intersil Corporation uses 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, mixed-signal and digital 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.

PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Corporation.