Alpine Microsystems Selects Micron Technology, Inc. as Preferred Supplier; Alpine's System Level Products to Benefit From Fast Memory Integration.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2002

Alpine Microsystems, a fabless semiconductor company, today announced the selection of Micron Technology, Inc. as a preferred supplier. As a preferred supplier, Micron(R) plans to supply die level building blocks, or DieCores in Alpine's nomenclature, for integration in Alpine System Level Products. Initial DieCore devices available to Alpine include; SRAM, DRAM, and Flash memory products based on standard Micron memory components.

Alpine's proprietary DieCore design method is a significant advance in reduced development time and manufacturing cost. The development time from final specification to prototypes may be as short as three months compared to eighteen months for System on Chip (SOC). Partitioning systems at process technology boundaries optimizes each DieCore to its native process, enabling the most cost-effective manufacturing. Integration of DieCores into system level products is completed using Alpine's proprietary MicroBoard technology. MicroBoard technology provides chip-to-chip bandwidth and latency greater than or equal to on-chip speeds, and I/O and interconnect density far superior to traditional packaging and printed circuit boards.

"Micron is a leader in the memory market," said Steve Taylor, Alpine's Executive VP, Sales and Marketing. "The DieCore design method requires memory products optimized for the highest performance and cost-effective manufacturing. Micron's memory product breadth meets many of Alpine's memory needs."

"Micron is focused on providing memory solutions to enable our customers in system design and integration," said Steve King, Micron's Business Development Manager. "Our customers continue to indicate a need for the advantages bare die offer in speed and space savings. We are pleased with the breadth of Micron's bare die product offering and our high-level of design and application support satisfy Alpine Microsystems integration requirements."

About Alpine Microsystems

Alpine Microsystems was founded in 1995 in Campbell, CA, and occupies approximately 16,500 square feet of leased space in Campbell, CA and approximately 6,000 square feet of leased space in Fremont, CA. Alpine is a privately held fabless semiconductor company that develops and markets products for the high growth segments of the network, storage and portable digital electronics markets. Alpine Microsystems is located in Campbell, California at 200 East Hacienda Avenue. Contact the company by phone at 408/364-8000, by email at [e-mail], or at www.alpinemicro.com on the World Wide Web.