Evans & Sutherland to Use Innovative Semiconductors' VIP Core for Future 3D Graphics Chips

Business Wire, Feb 28, 2000

Business Editors/Technology Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2000

Innovative Semiconductors, Inc. (Innovative) today announced a licensing agreement with Evans & Sutherland (E&S) (NASDAQ: ESCC), a world leader in high performance visual systems and 3D graphics products. Under the terms of this contract, E&S will use Innovative's Video Interface Port (VIP) core for incorporation in future E&S 3D graphics chips.

"With Innovative's VIP support, E&S will be able to design products that handle both standard definition and high definition television signals for streaming media and real-time applications," said Jan Bjernfalk, vice president of engineering at E&S. "Innovative's VIP core has been instrumental in providing E&S with a competitive edge in terms of time-to-market, compatibility, and scalability."

Innovative Semiconductors is the first company to develop and market Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) VIP cores - a solution which enables semiconductor designers to dramatically cut development costs and time-to-market. VIP specifies the interface between graphics controllers and video devices. As a universal standard, VIP meets the industry's demand for compatibility, cost-effectiveness and high performance. The latest version, VIP2, supports demanding applications such as HDTV while maintaining backward compatibility. VESA VIP has gained widespread industry support from both the graphics and video semiconductor vendors.

"I welcome E&S to our growing list of VIP Product licensees," said Nabil Takla, president of Innovative. "VIP has gained widespread industry support. I am glad that our silicon-proven VIP products have helped our customers meet their development objectives."

Innovative offers a complete family of VIP Intellectual Property (IP) core and validation suites. These cores are silicon-proven and are fully compliant with the VESA VIP2 specification. The core suites comprise of RTL synthesizable cores, video verifier, and validation suites that include the behavioral models, test bench, and sample scripts. Further details can be obtained from Innovative's website at www.isi96.com.

About Evans & Sutherland

Evans & Sutherland develops and manufactures hardware and software to produce highly realistic 3D images. E&S business units deliver high-quality visual systems for simulation and training in defense and commercial applications, graphics systems for high-performance workstations, and related applications throughout the world. Through its acquisition of San Jose-based AccelGraphics in June 1998, E&S expanded its workstation graphics offerings to include board-level products. Visit the E&S web page at www.es.com.

About Innovative Semiconductors, Inc.

Established in 1992, Innovative Semiconductors, Inc. develops Intellectual Property (IP) cores, the building blocks for developing high-performance ICs and chip sets for video and communications applications. The company's products include cores that support the Video Interface Port (VIP) standard, the IEEE-1394 standard, the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard and Video Compression standards. The company's customers include 3Dfx, Honeywell, Micron Technology, Nvidia, LSI Logic, Oki, S3, Siemens, STMicroelectronics, Samsung, and Trident.

The company is a member of the 1394 Trade Association, VESA, Synopsys IP Catalyst Program and the USB-IF. Innovative Semiconductors is located at 465 Fairchild Drive, Suite 227, Mountain View, CA 94043. Phone: (650) 934-0170, email: sales@isi96.com.

For more information about Innovative Semiconductors, Inc., please access the company's web site at http://www.isi96.com.