AKM Semiconductor, Inc., Joins the SuperAMPS Sleep Mode Consortium.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 1998--

The AK2336 Is an Ideal Single-Chip Base-Band IC Solution

for the New IS-91A SuperAMPS Sleep Mode That Extends Battery

Standby Time On AMPS Based Cellular Telephones

AKM Semiconductor, Inc., today announced that it is joining a marketing consortium with AZTECH Embedded Systems Group (ESG) of Green Bay, Wis., and Aspire Corp., of Tiburon, Calif., to promote the IS-91A standard SuperAMPS Sleep Mode.

This partnership will use the AK2336 single-chip base-band IC to produce an analog cellular phone with up to 10 times the battery standby time of current analog phones.

In the United States, AMPS continues to be the most important cellular phone standard that is used everywhere across the nation. However, the AMPS standard energy demands have, until now, made it difficult to obtain long battery standby times on analog cellular telephones. With this in mind, the SuperAMPS Sleep Mode for the new IS-91A standard has been designed to significantly extend the battery standby time of analog cellular telephones.

To implement this revolutionary SuperAMPS Sleep Mode, several technologies have to come together: a device level base-band LSI, an advanced call processing software, and a sleep mode controller for base stations. AKM Semiconductor, AZTECH-ESG, and Aspire Corp., respectively, are just the players to bring these technologies together and develop such an innovative sleep mode feature.

"Our companies," said Kojitsu Goto, Vice-President of Marketing at AKM Semiconductor, "possess the right synergies to develop such an advanced sleep mode feature which combine excellent IC design experience, software expertise, and systems understanding." Goto added, "the AK2336 brings to the consortium the right functionality to implement the SuperAMPS Sleep Mode in new analog cellular telephone designs."

The first cellular telephone with SuperAMPS Sleep Mode capabilities will be introduced by Niigata Seimitsu Co., Ltd., at the CTIA Wireless '98 Exhibition in Atlanta, Ga., from Feb. 23 through Feb. 25. This cellular telephone, the NSA2001, will be displayed by Modus Operandi, a sales agent for Niigata Seimitsu. Please visit Booth 5117 for additional information.

AKM Semiconductor, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Microsystems (AKM), Co., Ltd., Japan. AKM designs and manufactures mixed-signal integrated circuits for the telecommunications and multimedia markets. The company supplies a wide range of wireless chip-set solutions for various analog and digital cellular and cordless standards, including PDC, GSM, IS-136A, IS-95, PHS, DECT, AMPS/NAMPS, TACS/NTACS, NMT, and others.

AZTECH-ESG has over 20 years of experience developing software for the embedded industry. The company's expertise in Human Machine Interface (HMI) design and development, in-house tool kit, and experienced engineering staff, deliver the competitive edge required in the development of embedded products. Currently, the company is engineering a call-processing software package for the IS-91A standard utilizing the AK2336 base-band LSI. To contact AZTECH-ESG, call Greg Taisto at 920/499-0533.

Aspire Corp. is the creator of a significant new base station product, the Sleep Mode Controller, that extends the standby battery life of new analog cellular telephones by five to ten times. The Aspire product provides the cellular industry's first analog sleep mode capability in the form of a plug-and-play, add-on unit for existing analog base stations. The Sleep Mode Controller is fully compliant with the recently approved IS-91A industry standard, increasingly known as SuperAMPS. Aspire is supporting leading cellular telephone manufactures in the development of single-mode and dual-mode cellular telephones with IS-91A sleep mode capability. For more information, call Garrett Stone at 415/435-9580 or email him at [e-mail]. -0-

     AKM Semiconductor produces the AK2336 Single Chip Base-Band LSI
for AMPS, NAMPS, TACS, and NTACS. The AK2336 offers the following
features:

-- Single Chip base-band LSI         -- DSAT/DST generating and
   for AMPS, NAMPS, TACS and NTACS      transponding circuits

-- Linearity Adjustable CMOS         -- 10 bit programmable I/O ports
   COMPANDOR

-- Voice signal processing           -- VOX circuit
   circuits

-- Wide band data processing         -- Uncommitted OP-AMPx1, Timerx2,
                                        8 bit DACx3

-- Busy/idle bit extraction          -- AFC counter

-- Majority voting                   -- Low power CMOS, 1.4mA (TYP;
                                        VDD = 3V) at Rx Data Mode

-- Discontinuous Reception Support   -- Single 2.7V to 5.5V power
                                        supply

-- Error handling: up to 2-bit       -- 80 Pin LQFP package
   error correction

-- SAT decoding and transponding
   circuits

-0-

In addition, AKM Semiconductor offers the AK2335, an advanced base-band processor for AMPS/TACS. This chip can also be used in the IS-91A Standard SuperAMPS Sleep Mode, but is designed for AMPS/TACS applications only.

For additional information on the AK2336 and other products, please visit our web site at www.akm.com, or dial toll free 1-888-AKM-SEMI (1-888-256-7364).

CONTACT: AKM Semiconductor, Inc.

Kaz Tsuda, 408/436-8580

[e-mail]

http://www.akm.com