Catalyst Semiconductor Adds 16-Bit Device to I2C/SMBus General Purpose I/O Expander Family.

CAT9555 Provides Second Source to Philips PCA9555 Bus Expander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. (Nasdaq:CATS) a supplier of analog, mixed-signal and non-volatile memory semiconductors, today announced the next addition to its recently introduced I/O bus expander product line (July 2006). Similar to the recently announced CAT9554, which is an 8-bit I/O expander, the new CAT9555 provides a simple and cost-effective method to enable 16-bit I2C or SMBus general purpose I/O expansion for microcontrollers. These new Catalyst I/O expanders help designers balance system performance, processor, and board costs for sensor, control, and LED applications in white goods, digital cameras, cell phones, PDAs, satellite radios, routers, hubs and servers.

The CAT9555 consists of two 8-bit ports, which power up as inputs and can be configured as an input or output by writing to a register. The fixed part of the I2C slave address is the same as the 8-bit CAT9554 device, allowing any combination of up to eight of these devices to be connected on the same bus. This gives designers the flexibility to control the exact number of functions their system requires.

An internal power-on reset circuit initializes the device and sets the registers to their default values. Each I/O port is 5V input tolerant, with a high current I/O drive sink of up to 25mA and an I/O source of up to 10mA, maximum. Additionally, each I/O port is compatible with logic thresholds of 2.5V, 3.3V and 5V.

CAT9555 Product Features

acents Second source to Philips PCA9555

acents 2.3V to 5.5V operation

acents 16 I/O pins that default to inputs at power-up

acents Industrial Operating Temperature: -40[deg]C to +85[deg]C

acents 24-lead SOIC, TSSOP and 24-pad 4x4mm TQFN packages

acents 100% RoHS-compliant green packages

Price and Green Package Availability

The CAT9555 is available in three RoHS-compliant package options: 24-lead SOIC, 24-pin TSSOP, and 24-pad 4x4mm TQFN. Pricing for 10,000 piece quantities is $0.75 each. Samples are now available. Projected lead-times for production quantities are currently 6 to 8 weeks ARO. Ordering codes for the CAT9555 options are shown in the table below.

CAT9555 I/O Expander
Ordering PartNumber                 Package  Number ofLeads  Lead Finish
CAT9555WI                              SOIC              24    Matte-Tin
CAT9555WI-T2           SOIC (Tape-and-Reel)              24    Matte-Tin
CAT9555YI                             TSSOP              24    Matte-Tin
CAT9555YI-T2          TSSOP (Tape-and-Reel)              24    Matte-Tin
CAT9555HV6I                            TQFN         24 pads    Matte-Tin
CAT9555HV6I-T2         TQFN (Tape-and-Reel)         24 pads    Matte-Tin

About Catalyst Semiconductor

Founded in 1985, Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The Company produces analog and mixed signal products in addition to an extensive range of nonvolatile memories. The analog and mixed-signal product lines include Digitally Programmable Potentiometers [DPP(tm)], white and color LED drivers, DC/DC converters, voltage supervisors, linear regulators, and I/O expanders. The memory product lines consist of serial and parallel EEPROMs, Flash, and NVRAM. Catalyst devices are used in telecommunications, networking systems, computation, automotive, industrial and consumer markets. Typical applications include LCD displays, automotive instrumentation, optical networks, modems, wireless LANs, network cards, DIMM modules, cellular telephones, digital satellite box receivers, set-top boxes and Internet routers. Catalyst's Quality Management System is ISO 9001:2000 certified. All Catalyst products are available in "green" lead- and halogen-free versions with full RoHS compliance. For additional information about Catalyst Semiconductor, visit our website at: www.catsemi.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains some forward-looking statements, including references to product availability and lead times, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Risks and uncertainties from interruptions in Catalyst's, or our foundries' or subcontractors' manufacturing processes, as well as fluctuations in customer demand and changes in market supply have the possibility to affect product availability and lead times. Additional information covering the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this press release can be found under the section "Certain Factors That May Affect the Company's Future Results of Operations" listed from time-to-time in Catalyst's SEC reports including, but not limited to, the report on Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2006 and Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal year 2007.

Editor Notes:

1. Trademark notices: DPP is a trademark of Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc.

2. I2C is a registered trademark of Philips Corporation.

3. The "2" in I2C is superscript.

4. SMBus stands for "System Management Bus"

5. Electronic images are available at: www.catsemi.com/editor.