Cypress Announces 0.15-micron Technology; RAM7 Technology Achieves 8 Mb Yield With the World's Smallest SRAM Cell.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 7, 2000

Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE: CY) today announced that its new 0.15-micron RAM7(TM) process technology has achieved functional silicon of the world's smallest 8 Mbit SRAM. With an innovative cell size of only 2.9 square microns, the new 8 Mbit, low-power SRAM is an industry-leading 20 square millimeters. The geometric reduction to 0.15 micron yields twice the die of Cypress's volume-production 0.25 micron technology.

Cypress began high-volume production in 1996 of its patented high-speed, low-power six-transistor (6T) cell at 0.5 micron (RAM3(TM)). 6T cells have subsequently become the industry standard. Cypress's investment in process technology research and development has consistently paid off since then. Cypress has optically shrunk its original 6T cell approximately every 20 months: 0.35 micron (RAM4(TM)) in 1997, 0.25 micron (RAM5(TM)) in 1999 and 0.2 micron (RAM6(TM)) earlier this year.

"Once again Cypress has been successful in shrinking its line widths," said Jose Arreola, Cypress vice president of research and development. "It is noteworthy that we achieved working prototypes in first silicon, with good yields. We anticipate high volume production using the RAM7 process in the first half of 2001."

RAM7 is being implemented in Cypress's Fab 4C in Bloomington, Minn. In addition to the 8Mbit SRAM, over 10 products are currently in design and will achieve first silicon this year. These products include specialty and other communication-oriented memories intended to continue Cypress's support for communications customers such as Lucent, Nortel, Cisco, and 3COM. Plans are also on track to rapidly convert existing products to the RAM7 process over the course of 2001.

SRAM Industry Leadership

Cypress Semiconductor is the Number 2 American SRAM supplier, with a broad range of product portfolios for numerous market segments. Cypress's MoBL(TM) (More Battery Life(TM)) SRAMs, designed for handheld applications such as cellular phones, use three to five times less power than competing SRAMs. Cypress has partnered with Micron and IDT to introduce QDR(TM) (Quad Data Rate(TM)) SRAMs, a portfolio of very-high-performance communications memories. Like Cypress's NoBL(TM) (No Bus Latency(TM)) SRAMs, QDR SRAMs are targeted at networking applications.

About Cypress

Cypress Semiconductor provides high-performance integrated circuit solutions "By Engineers. For Engineers.(TM)" for fast-growing companies in fast-growing markets, including data communications, telecommunications, computation, consumer products, and industrial-control. With a focus on emerging communications applications, Cypress's product lines include networking-optimized and micropower static RAMs; high-bandwidth multi-port and FIFO memories; high-density programmable logic devices; timing technology for PCs and other digital systems; and controllers for Universal Serial Bus (USB). Cypress is No. 1 in the USB and clock chip markets.

More than two-thirds of Cypress's sales come from fast-growing communications markets and dynamic companies such as Alcatel, Cisco, Ericsson, Lucent, Motorola, Nortel Networks, and 3Com,. Cypress's ability to mix and match its broad portfolio of intellectual property enables targeted, integrated solutions for high-speed systems that feed bandwidth-hungry Internet applications. Cypress aims to become the preferred silicon supplier for Internet switching systems and for every Internet data stream to pass through at least one Cypress IC.

Cypress employs more than 4,100 people worldwide with international headquarters in San Jose, California. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CY. More information about Cypress is accessible electronically on the company's worldwide web site at http://www.cypress.com or by CD-ROM (call 1-800-858-1810). An electronic investor forum, and other investor information, is located at http://www.cypress.com/investor/index.html.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements herein that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" involving risks and uncertainties. Please refer to Cypress's Securities and Exchange Commission filings for a discussion of such risks.

The following are trademarks of Cypress Semiconductor: RAM3, RAM4, RAM5, RAM6, RAM7, NoBL, MoBL, QDR, "By Engineers. For Engineers."