TEXAS INSTRUMENTS AND PCTEL DELIVER SMALLEST, LOWEST POWER EMBEDDED V.90 MODEM CHIPSET CUTTING POWER USE BY 90% AND BOARD SPACE BY 40%.

For products requiring Internet connectivity, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) and PCTEL, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCTI) has introduced the lowest power and smallest V.90 embedded modem chipset for integration into end-equipments with very small form factors at low cost. This new two-chip solution cuts power consumption by as much as 90 percent and board space by up to 40 percent over existing solutions, enabling a new class of internet access devices with smaller power and space requirements. The offering combines TI's expertise in digital signal processing with PCTEL communications software into a proven two-chip solution.

"As consumers demand more portability in their electronic products, size and battery life are key factors driving emerging Internet applications," said Will Strauss, president of DSP market watcher Forward Concepts. "The programmability and power efficiency of TI's TMS320C5000 DSP platform is well suited to embedded modem applications in products like PDAs, digital cameras, digital music players and electronic books."

This new two-chip solution, which consists of a power-efficient TMS320C54V90 DSP and PCTEL line-powered Data Access Arrangement (DAA), consumes only 25 mW of power when running a V.90 modem and requires as little as 1.5 square inches of board space. The C54V90 DSP incorporates PCTEL's modem control and data pump software, eliminating the need for off-chip memory, and integrates the digital portion of the DAA on-chip, thereby decreasing the conventional embedded modem solution from five or six chips to just two chips. The PCTEL line-powered DAA is used to interface to the telephone line and is compatible with local phone access in more than 65 countries.

TI chose PCTEL communications software because of its proven performance in millions of Internet-enabled products throughout the world. PCTEL provides modem solutions to nearly all of the world's motherboard manufacturers and was a leading modem provider in 2000.

"The first Solsis modem technology proved to be popular with manufacturers such as Sun-Denshi for its online gaming interface for the Sony Playstation 2, with PolyTrax Information Technology for a home gateway design, and with SAGEM for a consumer digital set-top box," said Navin Rao, senior vice president and general manager of the Embedded Systems Group for PCTEL. "TI and PCTEL are expanding their product line to provide manufacturers with a solid communications platform to enable an enhanced internet experience for consumers."

"We have leveraged our systems expertise in digital signal processing to develop an embedded modem solution that uses as low as 1/10th the power of competing products," said Mark Mattson, TMS320C5000 DSP business development manager for TI. "Because the C54V90 chipset is enabled by a C5000 programmable DSP it has the added benefit of allowing customers to run other algorithms on the same DSP, eliminating the need and cost of additional components."

"Consumers will continue to look for new products -- and the smaller, the better -- that make their lives more connected via the Internet," said Mike Wolf, director of enterprise and residential communications for Cahners In- Stat Group. "Components such as PCTEL's Solsis modem are an important enabler of this growth as manufacturers seek to crowd more systems features into less board space, yet maintain a product's high reliability and quality." TI and PCTEL also plan to release a V.92 embedded modem chipset that will offer more symmetric data transmission speeds with higher upload bandwidth, faster handshaking time to achieve modem connection and a modem on hold feature that allows the modem connection to be sustained when a phone call occurs on the same line. [sections]