IMP Enters Power Management Market With Electroluminescent Lamp Driver IC; IMP High-Voltage technology produces die 60% smaller than competing solutions.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 1998--IMP, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMPX), today introduced the first of a family of products in the Power Management field, the IMP803 High-Voltage, Low-Power Electroluminescent (EL) Lamp Driver.

The IMP803 generates a 180 volt peak-to-peak drive signal that is needed to excite an electroluminescent lamp from a low-voltage DC source, such as a battery. EL lamps are used to backlight LCDs (liquid crystal displays) and keypads in low-power portable personal communications devices, such as pagers, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

"The IMP803 represents the first of a family of power efficient, low cost Electroluminescent (EL) lamp drivers made possible by our power management design experience and high-voltage process technology," said Barry Wiley, Vice President of Marketing and Sales. "We have achieved a die area that is 60 percent smaller than the competition, which opens new market areas and applications."

"Applications for EL backlighting include pagers, PDAs such as the 3Com(R) Palm Pilot(TM), automotive dashboards, cellular phones, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and consumer appliances such as clocks, radios, and watches. On the horizon, we see expanded applications in toys and games. These markets bring EL technology out of the "niche" arena and require suppliers with IMP's high volume production experience gained by serving major global customers.

"EL lamp driver circuits operate in the 100 volt to 200 volt area, well within our high-voltage capability that extends to 700 volts. We actively encourage custom circuit discussions for high-volume users who need additional circuitry integrated on chip, beyond the high-voltage battery boost and AC drive bridge circuits. We intend to make IMP a major high volume supplier of power efficient EL lamp driver ICs in the mobile communication and personal electronic product markets."

The IMP803 incorporates the four EL lamp driving functions on-chip. These are the switch-mode power supply, its high-frequency oscillator, the high-voltage H-bridge lamp driver and its low-frequency oscillator. By boosting an input voltage of 2 to 6 volts up to a maximum level of 180 volts peak-to-peak, EL lamps of 30 nanofarad capacitance are driven to high brightness. If the lamp drive voltage reaches 180 volt peak-to-peak, an internal circuit adjusts the boost converter to save energy.

Two external resistors allow both the switching regulator frequency and lamp drive frequency to be adjusted. Connecting these resistors to ground places the IMP803 into a powered-down mode.

The IMP803 is available in an 8-pin SO package or in die form for high volume, low cost chip-on-board applications. The price in 1,000 piece quantities of the IMP803LG is $0.96 each. Samples are available from stock. An evaluation board, the IMP803EV1, may be purchased with an introductory price of $32.00 from IMP's nationwide distributor Wyle Electronics by calling 800-283-9953.

A product data sheet and an application note describing the IMP803 evaluation board are available for download at www.impweb.com or via email at [e-mail].

Statements in this press release regarding IMP's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to demand for the Company's products, foundry utilization, the ability of the Company to develop new products, demand by end-users of the products produced by the Company's customers, and the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. IMP, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets standard-setting analog integrated circuits and specialty analog wafer foundry processes for data communications interface and power management applications in computer, communications, and control systems world-wide. Products are manufactured on CMOS, BiCMOS, and EEPROM processes in the company's ISO 9001 qualified wafer fabrication plant in San Jose, California.

Company headquarters are located at 2830 North First Street, San Jose, California, 95134-2071. Telephone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. For further information about IMP, please visit our home page at http://www.impweb.com or Email [e-mail].

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Editor Note: A product photograph is available by calling 408-434-1467.

IMP, Inc. is a supplier of analog and high-voltage wafer foundry services and standard analog integrated circuits for computer, communications and control applications.

CONTACT: IMP Inc.

Barry Wiley, 408/432-9100

[e-mail]

or

David Gillooly, 408/434-1467

[e-mail]