Cirrus Logic Sets Low-Power Consumption Standard for System-on-a-Chip Microprocessors; New Single-Chip Solution Integrates Advanced Power Management Technology To Create Industry's First Sub-50mW System-on-a-Chip Microprocessor.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS EDITORS)--Sept. 22, 1997--Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) today introduced the industry's first sub 50 milliwatts system-on-a-chip microprocessor, which enables a new class of low-power wireless voice/data communications products.

The new CL-PS7111 single-chip device draws an average of 45 milliwatts in normal mode (2.7 Volts) and 15 microwatts in standby mode, setting the benchmark for the lowest power consumption of any embedded microprocessor available on the market today. In fact, the CL-PS7111's advanced power management technology enables a system to consume one-half to one-tenth the energy of competitive solutions, making this solution ideal for battery-life-sensitive mobile applications such as smartphones, GPS receivers and two-way messaging products.

"Tomorrow's smartphone users want the ability to see their messages on an LCD screen, to run an Internet browser and to send an e-mail from a remote access site, while still operating on standard AA or AAA batteries," said Ashis Khan, director of markets for Cirrus Logic's Communications Division.

"Our CL-PS7111 system-on-a-chip microprocessor provides the interface logic that allows the mobile phone OEM to simply add the desired peripherals to meet these new demands, while at the same time delivering exceptional battery life performance."

Target Market

The CL-PS7111 is targeted at the emerging smartphone market and was designed to take advantage of wireless voice and data protocols such as the popular GSM communications protocol for Europe and Asia.

"GSM handset production is forecast to grow to 90 million units by the year 2000. Smartphones will take an increasing share of the market by then as data-centric communications grows in importance. We expect more than 10% of the production to be smartphones by the year 2000," said David Moorhouse, associate director at Dataquest, Europe.

Enhanced Battery Life Performance

The CL-PS7111 is built around its successful predecessor the CL-PS7110, which is currently shipping inside the award-winning Series 5 hand held organizer from Psion PLC. The CL-PS7111 has added several enhanced power management capabilities to the CL-PS7110's advanced low-power architecture, which currently enables the Psion Series 5 to run on two AA batteries for three months, assuming typical daily usage of eight hours, the longest battery life performance in its class.

These enhanced power management capabilities, including 2.7 Volt mode of operation and on-chip frame buffer, enable PS7111-based devices to offer even longer battery life, a critical requirement of the emerging battery-life-sensitive mobile applications market.

System-on-a-Chip Solution

To support all the required peripheral functions, the CL-PS7111 has integrated several enhancement features -- including a LCD controller for the display of data messages, a DMA controller that fetches display data, two serial interfaces for communications support, a CODEC interface for telephony applications, an IrDA SIR encoder that directly drives an infrared communications interface, a full-duplex audio codec that allows the storage and playback of sound and an on-chip Boot ROM -- to provide the OEM with a true system-on-a-chip solution.

Major OS Support

The core-logic functionality of the CL-PS7111 is built around an ARM710A microprocessor and supports several major operating systems specifically targeted at the smartphone market, including EPOC 32 from Psion Software, OS/9 from Microware, Inferno from Lucent Technologies, ClassiX from Chorus Systems and Nucleus from Accelerated Technology as well as all other operating systems supported by ARM microprocessors.

Evaluation Kit

An evaluation kit, which includes a prototype board, schematics, bill-of-materials and a design database, is available now from Cirrus Logic. The kit is designed to reduce the customer's time-to-market by providing software and hardware support to evaluate system performance and measure power consumption under various conditions, and is intended as a turnkey solution for OEMs targeting thin-client Internet-based applications and wireless data devices.

Pricing and Availability

The CL-PS7111 compute engine is available now in a 208-pin VQFP, priced at $18 each in quantities of 10K.

Cirrus Logic

Cirrus Logic is a leading manufacturer of advanced integrated circuits for personal computing, communications, mass storage, consumer and industrial markets. The company's "systems in silicon" add high value and software richness to major brands worldwide. With a focus on innovating microperipheral chip solutions, Cirrus Logic is committed to technology leadership for the Interactive Age. -0-

Note to Editors: Cirrus Logic news releases may be obtained by fax by dialing 1-800-359-6414, or by dialing 510-249-4200 from outside the United States, or via the Internet on the world wide web at http://www.cirrus.com/ .

All trademarks noted herein are registered to their respective owners.

CONTACT: Cirrus Logic Inc.

Ashis Khan, 510/226-2373

[e-mail]

or

Tsantes & Associates

Dean Fisk, 408/452-8700

[e-mail]