Intersil Begins Sampling PRISM GT to Lead Partners; Innovative Two-Chip 802.11g WLAN Solution Provides True 54 Mbps Operation

Business Wire, Nov 4, 2002

Business Editors/Technology Writers

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 2002

Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL):

-- PRISM GT(TM) is 100% Backward Compatible With Existing 802.11b Wi-Fi Systems

-- Provides Superior Range and Throughput Over Industry's 802.11A or 802.11b  WLAN Products

Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions, announced today it is sampling PRISM GT, its new 2-chip WLAN solution, with leading ODMs and OEMs. Designed to support the new 802.11g high-rate Draft Standard for Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) products operating in the 2.4 GHz band, PRISM GT provides twice the range and throughput for currently marketed 802.11a products and over three times the throughput of 802.11b products. Intersil has begun design efforts with Accton Technology Corporation, Actiontec Electronics, Inc., Ambit Microsystems Corporation, BroMax Communications, Z-Com, Inc., and other partners who are developing products for Intersil's end customers.

"We have recently completed an extensive tour throughout the US and Asia demonstrating what we believe is the most integrated, highest performing solution for the draft 802.11g standard - PRISM GT. The response from customers has been very enthusiastic and multiple new design wins are underway. The range and throughput performance of our PRISM GT solution speaks for itself and we are very excited that PRISM GT is going to set the standard by which all other WLAN solutions will be judged," said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil's Wireless Networking Product Group.

Intersil has skillfully combined the 802.11g Draft Standard's mandatory modulation schemes - Complementary Code Keying (CCK) used in 802.11b, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) used in 802.11a - with its proven low-cost ZIF architecture in designing the PRISM GT chip set. These innovative technologies enable wireless networking systems to attain data transmission speeds up to 54 million bits per second (Mbps) while remaining 100 percent backward compatible to the existing installed base of over 30 million Wi-Fi systems worldwide. CCK ensures backward-compatibility with the installed Wi-Fi base, while OFDM provides the speed required for today's high-bandwidth applications.

"Intersil has leveraged over five years of WLAN innovation and IC integration to develop PRISM GT," added Ciaccia. "In both our PRISM GT chip set and PRISM Duette(TM) - our recently announced 802.11a, b, & g dual-band WLAN chip set - we have implemented a solution that is capable of delivering true 54 Mbps OFDM-based performance with seamless backwards compatibility with 802.11b."

PRISM GT will enable a new generation of high-data-rate platforms for operation in the 2.4 GHz spectrum that delivers a three-fold increase in throughput over currently marketed 802.11b . Lower power consumption is also realized compared to systems operating in the 5 GHz spectrum. These advantages will make PRISM GT an ideal solution for high-bandwidth enterprise applications, such as wireless video conferencing and large file transfers, as well as advanced home networking applications such as multi-channel CD-quality audio and DVD-quality video streaming.

The PRISM GT solution uses Intersil's proven direct down conversion architecture developed for the PRISM(R) 3 chip set and the digital signal processing expertise gained in the development of 5 GHz 802.11a products. The transceiver integrates the receiver, transmitter, synthesizer and filters onto a single chip, and interfaces directly with the Baseband Processor to provide system designers with a complete end-to-end WLAN chip set solution. The Medium Access Controller (MAC) includes enhanced security and network management features.

The PRISM GT transceiver is an RF-to-baseband solution that takes high frequency radio waves and directly converts them to baseband signals during reception, or directly up-converts them from the low-level baseband signal to radio frequency during transmission. This architecture completely eliminates the need for the intermediate frequency (IF) stage found in most radios. Eliminating the IF stage reduces complexity, bill-of-materials (BOM) and manufacturing costs, as well as enabling smaller form factors appropriate for portable, handheld devices.

Intersil's turnkey solutions approach will include mini-PCI and CardBus32-PC Card reference designs. Also offered will be all the development tools an original equipment manufacturer will need to quickly bring 802.11g WLAN products to market. The reference design kit includes the PRISM GT chip set, complete schematics, Gerber and layout files, BOM, manufacturing test utilities, PRISM lab test diagnostic tools, FAB drawings (PC board), antenna construction details, a technology license agreement, manufacturing, mechanical and assembly drawings.

Intersil Elantec Means More for Our Customers

Intersil Corporation is a global semiconductor leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions. The acquisition of Elantec Semiconductor, Inc., expanded Intersil's product portfolios to address four fast growing markets - flat panel displays, optical storage (CD and DVD recordable), power management and wireless networking. Intersil brings added customer value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that enhance the computing experience for people wherever they live, work or travel. 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: http://www.intersil.com