Equator Technologies Announces Industry's Most Powerful, Flexible and Cost-effective Digital Signal Processor.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2001

Equator

-- The MAP-BSP-15(TM) chip addresses new markets including

wireless, handheld applications, digital cameras, telematics,

remote security, internet appliances, low bit-rate media

streaming and HDTV-compliant set-top boxes

Equator Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of comprehensive, broadband digital communications and media processing engines and systems, announced today at the Microprocessor Forum (October 15-19, Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, Calif.) its new MAP-BSP-15(TM) Broadband Signal Processor(TM) (BSP(TM)) chip. Equator's next-generation chip, which will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), enhances Equator's BSP family of chips by introducing a faster, lower power consumption, smaller, more flexible and cost-effective universal media processor to the market. Operating at 333 MHz, the MAP-BSP-15 chip will use 0.15-micron fabrication technology and will deliver 33 GOPs (billion operations per second), more than four to eight times the performance of competing solutions.

The low-voltage, software-programmable, MAP-BSP-15 chip enables Equator to strengthen its established position in the head-end, set-top box, video conferencing, video security and surveillance, and imaging markets -- providing the additional power and flexibility needed to target new markets. Equator's latest chip is ideal for wireless, handheld applications, digital cameras, telematics (including aviation, shipping and automotive), remote security, low bit-rate media streaming and HDTV-compliant set-top box applications. Using the powerful, MAP-BSP-15 chip and advanced development tools, Equator's customers will be able to achieve a faster time-to-market for these applications.

"As the demand grows for OEMs and service providers to offer advanced streaming media features such as Internet access, three-stream PVR capabilities, and other interactive services for a range of broadband communications markets, including HDTV-compliant set-top boxes, video conferencing, remote security applications, and telematics, powerful yet flexible processors are needed in order to keep pace with the desire to add enhanced services without replacing hardware," said Michelle Abraham, senior analyst, Cahners In-Stat group. "The set-top box market alone is expected to grow from 43 million to 112 million units by 2005. The next generation of intelligent silicon devices will make growth of these markets possible by enabling the rapid deployment of the various enhanced broadband communications applications increasingly demanded by end-users."

"We are working closely with Equator to deliver its new family of next generation MAP-BSP-15 Broadband Signal Processor chips," said Jim Lai, director of emerging account development at TSMC North America. "We look forward to helping Equator deliver its advanced universal media processor to a variety of new and emerging markets."

The MAP-BSP-15 chip enables simultaneous high-quality video encoding streams at various bit rates, supporting all standard and non-standard compression algorithms. This is achieved by using only 1.2 volts and 2.5 watts, less than half the power of its predecessor, allowing applications to run more quickly. In addition, the smaller chip will be capable of handling more applications, making it the most functionally cost-effective solution available. Equator will work closely with TSMC to ensure that future versions of its BSP chip will map to TSMC's state-of-the-art technology.

"Over the past year, we have been very successful in providing our customers with a powerful, software-programmable chip that enables them to quickly deliver very high quality video-intense applications to the market. We have experienced tremendous growth and the latest iteration of our unique technology, the next-generation MAP-BSP-15 chip, will allow us to build on that growth by expanding into new market segments," said Dr. Avi Katz, president and CEO, Equator Technologies. "We opted to work with TSMC because of the strength of its fabrication technology. By collaborating with the world's most modern fab, we can ensure that our customers will continue to have access to the fastest, low-voltage, software-programmable processor available on the market."

MAP-BSP-15 Chip Key Features:

Building on Equator's high-level C-programmable, system-on-a-chip solution, which is based on proprietary VLIW/SIMD architecture, the MAP-BSP-15 chip can unify the host processor with the image processing capabilities, SDRAM and PCI interfaces, and a flexible multimedia I/O system to allow a single external bank of DRAM to support a range of product functions. New advanced features and functions critical for today's video and media intense applications, include:

-- Digital RGB -- enables usage of and drives digital display panels

-- Additional support for SDRAM -- provides customers with the flexibility to
choose from various types of memory, helping to reduce overall system cost

-- Data port that is fully compliant with PCI specifications -- eases the
adoption of any peripherals

-- Merged Video DSP and MPU -- a fusion of general purpose RISC processor
architecture and high performance DSP architecture seamlessly integrated into a
VLIW architecture framework

-- Partitioned, compiler managed, register sets -- provides full support of a
100% C programming environment for digital signal and video image processing
applications

-- Task-optimized functional units -- allow unparalleled DSP computational
power through support of both instruction and data level parallelism, providing
the most optimized hardware resources available on silicon

-- Throughput-optimized Dcache -- allows the Data Cache to be used without any
need for software control, but alternatively, under software control, it can be
used as a buffer memory. Efficient pre-loading of the Data Cache is also
possible, using the on-chip DataStreamer DMA processor

-- Continued support for strong software tools and OS support

Equator's iMMediaTools(TM) suite, which includes a parallelizing C compiler, linker, source level debugger, simulators and standard libraries, will fully support the MAP-BSP-15 processor. The chip will be integrated into Equator's full range of development boards and reference design platforms, including its Shark, StingRay(TM), and EagleRay(TM) Development Boards, as well as the Dolphin(TM) and Orca(TM) Reference Design Platforms.

Availability

Engineering samples of the MAP-BSP-15 chip will be available in Q1 2002, with production in Q2, 2002.

About the Companies

TSMC

TSMC is the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, providing the industry's leading process technology and the foundry industry's largest portfolio of process-proven library, IP, design tools and reference flows. The company operates two advanced 300mm wafer fabs, seven eight-inch fabs and two six-inch wafer fabs. TSMC also has substantial capacity commitments at two joint ventures fabs (Vanguard and SSMC) and at its wholly owned subsidiary, WaferTech. In early 2001, TSMC became the first IC manufacturer to announce a 0.10-micron technology alignment program with its customers. TSMC's corporate headquarters are in Hsin-Chu, Taiwan. For more information about TSMC to http://www.tsmc.com.

Equator Technologies, Inc.

Equator Technologies is the leading provider of comprehensive broadband digital communications and media processing infrastructure for the consumer and business technology markets. Equator's family of Broadband Signal Processor (BSP) chips, including the MAP-CA digital signal processor, couples a unique, fully functional system-on-a-chip solution with software tools. Equator's unmatched compiler technology delivers 100% C programming - enabling the rapid introduction and field upgradeability of high-performance, video-intense systems. With more than 120 customers, Equator offers rapid time-to-market and time-to-revenue solutions for digital media communication markets including, head-ends, set-top boxes, video conferencing, video security and imaging. Headquartered in Campbell, Calif., with additional international offices, Equator is a privately held company. For more information, visit www.equator.com.

Note to Editors: The following are trademarks of Equator Technologies, Inc., and may be used to identify Equator products only: Equator, MAP, MAP1000, MAP1000A, MAP-CA, MAP Series, Broadband Signal Processor, BSP, FIRtree, DataStreamer, DS, iMMediaC, iMMediaTools, iMMediaToolsLite, Media Intrinsics, VersaPort, SofTV, Dolphin, StingRay, EagleRay, Orca, Equator Around and the Equator Around logo. Other product and company names in this news release may be trademarks of their respective owners.