Catalyst Semiconductor Adds to I/O Bus Expander Product Line With New 16-bit I2C LED Dimmer.

CAT9532 Drives 16 LEDs in Parallel, Provides Drop-in Replacement for PCA9532

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATS) a supplier of analog, mixed-signal and non-volatile memory semiconductors, has expanded its line of bus products with the CAT9532, a 16-bit LED driver with dimmer and blinker control functions, which can also be used as a general purpose I/O expander.

A drop-in replacement for the PCA9532, the CAT9532 can drive 16 LEDs directly in parallel and provides LED dimming in 256 brightness steps for backlighting and RGB color mixing. The device can also turn each LED ON, OFF or blinking at one of two programmable rates for sensor control, power-switch, push-button and status indicator light applications with I2C or SMBus interfaces.

Product Features
-- 16 LED drivers with dimming control
-- 256 brightness steps
-- 16 open drain outputs drive 25mA each
-- Two selectable, programmable blink rates:
-- Frequency: 0.593Hz to 153Hz
-- Duty Cycle: 0% to 99.6%
-- I/Os can be used as general purpose I/Os
-- 400kHz I2C bus compatible
-- Packaging: 24-lead SOIC, TSSOP and 24-pad TQFN (4 x 4mm)

Price and Availability

The CAT9532 LED driver/blinkers are priced at $0.75 each in 10,000 piece quantities. Samples are available now. Projected lead-time for production quantities is currently 6 to 8 weeks ARO.

About Catalyst Semiconductor

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Catalyst Semiconductor designs and markets analog, mixed-signal and non-volatile memory products, including Digitally Programmable Potentiometers (DPP[TM]), white and color LED drivers, DC/DC converters, LDO regulators, voltage supervisors, bus expanders, serial and parallel EEPROMs, Flash and NVRAM. Many of Catalyst's products incorporate the Company's Quantum Charge Programmable[TM] technology, to deliver Adaptive Analog[TM] products, which offer a new level of customer flexibility, lower power and smaller die size. Catalyst products are used in telecommunications, computer, automotive, industrial and consumer markets. Typical applications include LCD displays, automotive lighting, optical networks, printers, modems, wireless LANs, network cards, DIMM modules, cellular telephones, navigation systems, set-top boxes and Internet routers. www.catsemi.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release may be forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, references to Catalyst Semiconductor's CAT9532 bus product pricing, lead times and availability. Product availability, lead times, prices and margins can be affected by many factors, including interruptions in our manufacturing processes and those of our foundries and vendors, unpredictable customer demand, and semiconductor industry cycles. More information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained under the heading "Certain Factors That May Affect the Company's Future Results of Operations" listed from time-to-time in reports Catalyst files with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, but not limited to, Catalyst's Annual Report filed on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports filed on Form 10-Q. Catalyst disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement.

Editor Notes:

1) Trademark notices: DPP, Quantum Charge Programmable[TM] and Adaptive Analog[TM] are trademarks of Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc.