Horizon Hobby Selects Cypress's PSoC® Mixed-Signal Array for Hot New RC Helicopter

Business Wire, March 26, 2007

E-flite[TM] Blade CX2 Uses PSoC for WirelessUSB[TM] Protocol Control to Protect Radio Signals from Interference

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:CY) today announced that Horizon Hobby, a leader in remote control products, has employed Cypress's PSoC([R]) (Programmable System-on-Chip[TM]) mixed-signal array in the popular new E-flite[TM] Blade CX2 radio control (RC) helicopter. The new helicopter also employs Cypress's WirelessUSB[TM] LP radio-on-a-chip for industry-leading interference immunity that protects its radio control signals from being disrupted by other 2.4-GHz signals and other aircraft.

Horizon Hobby's new E-flite Blade CX2 RTF Electric Coaxial Micro Helicopter is one of the hottest selling products in the company's 22-year history. Its coaxial, counter-rotating rotor blades make hovering easy, even for first-time pilots. A Cypress PSoC device provides protocol management for WirelessUSB LP, delivering flawless radio signals for the helicopters.

"Horizon Hobby's Blade CX2 helicopter is the first ready-to-fly RC aircraft with beginner-friendly flight stability and the freedom to fly anywhere, anytime without ever having to worry about interference," said Chris Huhn, category manager at Horizon Hobby. "The demand for this product is being driven by its innovative features, which would not be possible without the programmability, flexibility, and performance of Cypress's PSoC and WirelessUSB LP devices."

"The Blade CX2 marks the second iteration of successful Horizon Hobby aircraft featuring the winning combination of Cypress's PSoC and WirelessUSB," said Scott Harmel, vice president of marketing for Cypress's Consumer and Computation Division. "PSoC is a perfect fit in applications with a variety of control functions, and the unparalleled interference immunity of our WirelessUSB LP device meets the needs of wireless products that operate in crowded RF environments."

PSoC -- Because Change Happens

PSoC devices employ a highly configurable system-on-chip architecture for embedded control design, offering a flash-based equivalent of a field-programmable ASIC without lead-time or NRE penalties. PSoC devices integrate configurable analog and digital circuits, controlled by an on-chip microcontroller, providing both enhanced design revision capability and component count savings. They include up to 32 Kbytes of Flash memory, 2 Kbytes of SRAM, an 8x8 multiplier with 32-bit accumulator, power and sleep monitoring circuits, and hardware I2C communications.

The flexible PSoC resources allow designers to future-proof their products by enabling firmware-based changes during design, validation, production, and in the field. The unique PSoC flexibility shortens design cycle time and allows for late-breaking feature enhancements. All PSoC devices are also dynamically reconfigurable, enabling designers to morph internal resources on-the-fly, utilizing fewer components to perform a given task.

Easy to use development tools, including one-of-a-kind PSoC Express[TM] Visual Embedded design tool, let you design at the application level, with no C or assembly coding. With access to dozens of tested and verified device drivers, you can complete your design in hours or days instead of weeks or months. The PSoC family's analog features include rail-to-rail inputs, programmable gain amplifiers and up to 14-bit ADCs with exceptionally low noise, input leakage and voltage offset.

A single PSoC device can integrate as many as 100 peripheral functions saving customers design time, board space and power consumption while improving system quality. Customers can save from 5 cents to as much as $10 in system costs. Learn more about PSoC online at www.cypress.com/psoc.

About WirelessUSB LP

Cypress's WirelessUSB LP offers an unparalleled feature set to enable superior interference immunity, low bill-of-materials (BOM) costs, higher data rate applications, and faster time-to-market for keyboards, mice, gaming devices, presenter tools, and remotes, as well as other simple, multi-point-to-point wireless applications. Featuring a highly integrated radio transceiver plus digital baseband on a single chip, it operates between 1.8 and 3.6 volts, using advanced power-saving techniques to extend battery life in devices such as wireless mice. WirelessUSB LP uses Cypress's patented frequency agile DSSS technology to offer best-in-class interference immunity for a 2.4-GHz radio system. This combination of low power consumption, interference immunity and low cost make it ideal for wireless HID applications.

About Horizon Hobby

Founded in 1985, Horizon Hobby, Inc. is an international marketer and distributor of radio control (RC) cars, boats, planes and helicopters; model railroad; plastic and die-cast models; and other general hobby products. The company supports its distribution efforts with cutting-edge retailer services and direct-to-consumer marketing through print media and e-commerce. Horizon Hobby is also one of the leading developers of radio control hobby products, which include many of the biggest names in the industry such as Hangar 9 airplanes, HobbyZone entry level RC sports and Team Losi cars and trucks. Visit Horizon Hobby online at www.horizonhobby.com.