National Semiconductor Demonstrates Semiconductor Industry's First Interactive Marketing System Using Sun Microsystems' Java Technology and CADIS Krakatoa; National to put entire product line on Web and provide high-speed, interactive searching by parametric attribute using CADIS search engine written in Java

Business Wire, Nov 9, 1995

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 1995--National Semiconductor today demonstrated the industry's first interactive commercial application of Sun Microsytems' Java (tm) technology by showing how customers could quickly and easily search for and find information on any of their over 30,000 products via the Web. National Semiconductor tapped CADIS, Inc. to provide the parametric search engine for the application, which was rewritten in Java to enable fully interactive searching on any type of client platform. The proof-of-concept application was demonstrated to over 1,200 participants at Sun's Java conference in Menlo Park today.

National Semiconductor's system uses the CADIS technology to power exceptionally fast and intuitive access to National's technical documentation library within the World Wide Web environment. This system enables the design engineer and other users to search National's semiconductor product database selecting attributes of interest without having to know any part numbering sequence, datasheet naming scheme or description text. Users will be able to select component attributes such as power levels, tolerances and package types, successively narrowing the list of qualifying products until a subset of candidate products are identified. Designers can then select from a variety of product information on those candidate products including data sheets, pricing and availability, performance ranges, and eventually characterization data generated by National's lab.

This is the first large-scale business application for Java in the semiconductor industry. "National and CADIS have been working for the past several months to implement our Web site with parametric access," said Rick Brennan, manager for World Wide Web services at National. "One of the difficulties imposed by traditional Internet systems is the limited amount of interactivity."

To create the working prototype, CADIS not only developed the client application in Java, but wrote the needed Java Remote Procedure Calls to allow on-line updates between a Java client and the National Web Server, instantly updating part counts and associated screens while user navigates through the selection.

Today, designers must look through multiple data books to obtain information on products that meet their system requirements. In the near future, they will be able to go to National's Web site, input their specifications by navigating through the CADIS schema, then download datasheets, application notes, behavioral models and design and simulation tools.

"I believe this application represents the way business will provide product information to their users in the future," says Venkat Mohan, president and COO of CADIS. "Customers want to go to their suppliers and be provided with rich, up-to-date information about the products that will meet their needs. The Web, the CADIS Krakatoa product in Java and a willingness to think in customer terms is what's required to make this vision possible."

National Semiconductor Corporation designs, develops and markets semiconductor Technologies for Moving and Shaping Information. The company focuses on strategic markets within the communications, personal systems, industrial and consumer markets. National Semiconductor is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has 22,400 employees worldwide. In fiscal 1995, the company reported sales of $2.4 billion and achieved the highest earnings in its history.

CADIS is a privately-held, venture-funded company that has developed a set of patent-pending technologies that provide classification and retrieval of information related to objects. CADIS has initially applied the technology to parts information management, allowing customers to organize and instantly access internal part information to rationalize active part numbers and prevent duplicate part creation. Customers include companies such as General Electric, Tektronix, Ingersoll-Rand, 3M, Applied Materials, Navistar and Raytheon/Beech. -0-

Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc in the United States and other countries.

For a demonstration of the marketing application, access the National Semiconductor Web Site at http://www.natsemi.com after December 15, 1995.

CONTACT: National Semiconductor

Dawn Schulman, (408) 721-1878

or

CADIS, Inc.

Janet Eden-Harris, (303) 546-5227

or

Sun Microsystems

Steve Fritz, (415) 960-1300