Alliance Adds Configurable CPU Supervisor Family to Growing Portfolio of Power Management Products.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Customizable Power Management ICs Provide Low-Cost Solution for Multiple Market Application's Voltage Monitoring and Reset Correction

Alliance Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq:ALSC), a worldwide provider of analog and mixed signal products, high-performance memory products, connectivity and networking solutions for the communications, computing, embedded, industrial and consumer markets, today announced the expansion of its family of CPU supervisor products to include two new product families, ASM1232 and ASM1832. The ASM1332 and ASM1832 general-purpose supervisors provide configuration options for system designers looking to add reliable power management solutions across a variety of electronics markets.

Specifically designed to keep systems from malfunctioning during power-up, power-down or brownout conditions, Alliance's ASM1232 and ASM1832 ICs are cost effective, low-power supervisory circuits designed for monitoring power supplies in microprocessor and microcontroller-based systems. These ICs include a debounced manual reset input, as well as configurable dual level threshold detection to restart a "hung" microprocessor in the event voltages drift out of tolerance or even after complete power supply failure. The pushbutton manual reset allows the user to externally invoke a reset, during a "hang" or when the system has become unresponsive. To further enhance system reliability, an internal watchdog timer can be configured to automatically reset the microprocessor after a preset period of inactivity. This is especially useful in set top box (STB) and telecom applications where a loss of signal or instability may cause undesired responses, requiring a soft reset to be initiated.

"We are excited to include user configurable functionality to our growing base of CPU Supervisor products," said Nelson Arata, product marketing manager for Alliance's Analog and Mixed Signal business unit. "Configurability gives the system designer greater flexibility and added options in setting up, designing or debugging complex systems that require precise CPU monitoring."

The ASM1232 and ASM1832 include tolerance select inputs (TOL) that can be used to specify reset threshold tolerances of 5 percent and 10 percent for the ASM1232 in 5-volt applications, and 10 percent and 20 percent for the 3.3-volt ASM1832. Both parts include a pushbutton manual reset input and a watchdog timer with reset functionality that is user configurable to time-out periods of 150ms, 610ms or 1200ms.

Alliance Semiconductor CPU Supervisor Products

Reset Voltage      Package
 Part Number     Features & Function      Options (V)       Options
------------- ------------------------- --------------- --------------
   ASM1232    --  Power-up, power-down,   4.37, 4.62
               brownout detection         (5v supply)
------------- --  Selectable Vth        --------------- 8 Pin SO
               Tolerance                                8 Pin microSO
              --  Pushbutton Manual       2.55, 2.88    8 Pin DIP
   ASM1832     Reset                     (3.3v supply)
              --  Watchdog Timer w/
               configurable timeout
------------- ------------------------- --------------- --------------

Production quantities are available and shipping now in compact 8-pin, and lead-free, packages and are available in commercial and industrial temperature ranges of 0 - 70 degrees Celsius and -40 - +85 degrees Celsius. Pricing for the ASM1232 and ASM1832 is $0.80/unit in volumes of 1,000.

For more information on these and other products, please visit http://www.alsc.com/products/sup.htm.

About Alliance:

Alliance Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq:ALSC) is powering every application with high performance solutions for the communications, computing and consumer electronics markets. Utilizing advanced process technologies and design expertise, Alliance provides leading OEMs with a broad portfolio of complementary technologies including analog and mixed-signal products, chip-to-chip connectivity products, networking controllers and high-performance memories. Alliance addresses the complete needs of system developers by leveraging its proprietary advances in Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) reduction, power management and timing technology, HyperTransport(TM) I/O connectivity and specialized memory solutions for next-generation applications. Founded in 1985, Alliance is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with design centers in Bangalore and Hyderabad, India. The company is publicly traded and included in the S&P 600 Index. Additional information is available on the Alliance Web site at: http://www.alsc.com.