Agere, STMicroelectronics, and TSMC join VSI Alliance Board of Directors.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

LOS GATOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 2003

-- New member companies join VSI Alliance

The VSI Alliance (VSIA) today announced the unanimous approval of Agere Systems, STMicroelectronics and TSMC to the VSIA Board of Directors.

William Billowitch, Manager of IP Design Reuse and Development, Agere Systems; Peter Hirt, Program Manager, STMicroelectronics; and Andrew Moore, Ph.D, Deputy Director, TSMC will represent their company's interests on the VSIA Board. The Alliance continues to gain support from various sectors of the semiconductor industry with these new Directors. The ten-member VSIA Board also includes Alcatel, Cadence Design Systems, Infineon Technologies, Mentor Graphics, Motorola SPS, Sonics and IBM.

"This is an exciting time in the industry, and VSIA will continue to address the toughest challenges to SoC design and reuse," said Mike Kaskowitz, President of VSIA. " With worldwide leaders like Agere, STMicroelectronics, TSMC and existing Board members, we believe VSIA will effectively address the business barriers to the adoption of standards and will continue to provide the best open standards and specs that drive system chip productivity."

Agere Systems is a premier provider of advanced integrated circuit solutions for wireless data, high-density storage and multiservice networking applications. Agere's wireless data portfolio enables seamless network access and Internet connectivity through its GPRS offering for data-capable cellular phones, as well as Wi-Fi/802.11 solutions for wireless LANs and computing applications. The company is the market leader in providing integrated circuits for the hard disk drive market, with number one positions in sales of system-on-a-chip solutions and preamplifiers. Agere also provides custom and standard multiservice networking solutions to move information across wired, wireless and enterprise networks. Agere's customers include the leading PC manufacturers, wireless terminal providers, network equipment suppliers and hard-disk drive providers.

STMicroelectronics is a leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology, and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets.

TSMC is the largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, providing the industry's leading process technology and the foundry industry's largest portfolio of process-validated library, IP, design tools and reference flows.

In addition to expanding its Board, the Alliance has seen many new companies join VSIA over the past half year including: Agere, UMC, GDA Technologies and Dolphin Technology.

About VSIA

The VSI Alliance (VSIA) is an open, international organization dedicated to improving the productivity of System-on-Chip (SoC) development by specifying open standards and specifications that facilitate the integration of software and hardware Intellectual Property (IP) from multiple sources and by identifying and providing solutions to the business barriers that inhibit adoption of standards. The VSIA membership includes representatives from all segments of the SoC industry: System houses, Semiconductor vendors, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) companies, and Intellectual Property (IP) providers. Many companies have adopted the use of VSIA specifications, standards and documents. VSIA has wide industry participation with more than 100 member companies from around the world. Membership is open to any company with an interest in the development and promotion of open standards used in the design of SoC. For more information, visit the VSIA web site at www.vsi.org, or e-mail to [e-mail].

Adoption of VSIA Specifications and Standards

Adoption and use of VSIA's documents, specifications, and standards is growing at many System-on-Chip companies. Some of the companies that have adopted VSIA specifications and standards include Alcatel; ARM; Cadence Design Systems, Inc.; Fujitsu Limited; Hewlett-Packard Company; Infineon Technologies Corp.; Intel Corp; LogicVision, Inc.; LSI Logic Corp; Mentor Graphics Corp.; Motorola SPS; Nokia Mobile Phones; Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.; Philips Semiconductor; sci-worx.; STMicroelectronics; Synopsys, Inc.; and Virtual Component Exchange.

Editor's Notes: VSI Alliance is a trademark of the Virtual Socket Interface Alliance, Inc.