Philips Semiconductors Announces World's First 2.5V Logic Family, Featuring Backward Compatibility, High Speed and Mixed Mode I/O Up To 5V; New ALVT Family Ideal for High Speed, Low Power Applications in Telecommunications, EDP; TI Announces Second Source Agreement.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 1996--Leading the market for low voltage logic, Philips Semiconductors today announced ALVT, the industry's first 2.5V logic family.

"Philips is ahead of the competition in providing a logic family that anticipates the continuing drive towards lower power requirements and higher speeds. The need for 2.5V logic is clear, given the trend toward high speed processors, higher bus speeds, higher integration and smaller more compact systems," said Ruud van der Linden, general marketing manager of Philips' Logic Products Group.

"At the same time, the ALVT family is totally compatible with existing families and meets today's need for mixed mode I/O operation up to 5V."

Additionally, Texas Instruments today also announced its intention to alternate source the ALVT product family. This will further strengthen the alliance between Philips and TI which started in the early 1980s. Both partners' devices will have matching specifications, packaging, and pinouts while each company will use its own advanced processing technology. Texas Instruments will release numerous ALVT functions to production in the second half of this year.

ALVT devices are 20% faster than LVT at 3.3V and meet LVT speeds at 2.5V. ALVT devices are operational from 2.5V to 5V and exhibit full mixed voltage I/O compatibility up to 5V. The first released product, the 74ALVT16245, is now available to customers developing high performance systems requiring high speed, 64ma output drive, and low power dissipation. ALVT represents the fastest commercially available logic family with typical propagation delays under 2ns at 3.3V.

ALVT devices are manufactured using Philips' advanced QUBIC-LP BiCMOS process, combining the best features of 13GHz bipolar NPN transistors with optimized .65micron LEFF CMOS. The result is a family of extremely high performance 16-bit devices exhibiting stable speed characteristics over an extended temperature range and lower dynamic power dissipation than competing technologies.

These characteristics make ALVT ideal for evolving high performance telecommunications and EDP applications such as SRAM interface, driving low Voltage DRAM memory arrays, driving high speed backplanes or bus structures, or 2.5V/3V/5V interfacing. Live insertion/extraction capability makes ALVT particularly well-suited for hot plug and play applications.

A built-in bushold feature is present on ALVT input and I/O pins. Bushold keeps the input at the last known state before the device goes into tri-state. This feature eliminates the problems caused by floating input signals and also eliminates the need for on-board external resistive pull-ups. Other patented improvements are included in ALVT designs to optimize performance and reduce power dissipation.

The first released part type in the ALVT product family is the 74ALVT16245, a non-inverting 16-bit transceiver featuring 1.5ns propagation delay and 3ma ICCL at 3.3V, and 2.3ns propagation delay and 2.3ma ICCL at 2.5V. These characteristics make ALVT the fastest commercially available logic family in the marketplace. The 74ALVT16245 is available in 48-pin SSOP at $US3.50 and 48-pin TSSOP at $US3.65.

For pricing and availability outside the United States, contact your local Philips Semiconductor Sales Office or Authorized Philips Distributor.

Further smoothing designers' migration to 2.5V, the ALVT functions are pin-for-pin and feature-for-feature compatible with existing LVT-16 functions. Extended specifications provide information on propagation delay versus multiple output switching, high capacitive loading and temperature. Ground/Vcc bounce, dynamic switching threshold, and propagation delay skew are also specified.

ALVT technical information is available in the 1996 BiCMOS Data Manual (IC23) which includes ALVT family characteristics and family specifications, the 74ALVT16245 extended specification, and preliminary specifications for other planned product types.

An industry pioneer and the world leader in digital signal processing solutions for more than 13 years, Texas Instruments Semiconductor Group provides innovative solutions to more than 20,000 customers worldwide in the computer, communications, consumer, automotive, military and industrial markets. TI offers a unique breadth of digital and mixed signal products and technologies, hardware and software development tools, design information services and global support.

Texas Instruments Inc., headquartered in Dallas, is a high-technology company with sales or manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries. TI products and services include semiconductors; defense electronics systems; software productivity tools; printers, mobile computing products and consumer electronics products; custom engineering and manufacturing services; electrical controls; and metallurgical materials.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Philips Electronics NV headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eleventh largest semiconductor supplier in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia, and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by regional customer application labs.

Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing their home page at: http://www.semiconductors.phil ips.com/ps/

CONTACT: Philips Semiconductors

Peter Brown, 408/991-3626

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Texas Instruments Inc.

Bridget Braxton or Kenneth Kracmer, 214/995-2011

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Oak Ridge Public Relations Inc.

Frankie Borison or Kathy Keenan, 408/253-5042