VLSI Technology and Hagenuk jointly develop first single-chip solution for European ISDN terminal equipment; processor optimized for ISDN terminals with a roadmap to ISDN/DECT and ISDN/PCMCIA equipment.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 1995--VLSI Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VLSI) today announced availability in Europe of its state-of-the-art single chip ISDN processor.

The VLSI ISDN Processor (VIP) is at the heart of a new line of powerful yet affordable ISDN terminals. Jointly developed by VLSI and Hagenuk, the VIP benefited from VLSI's extensive cell-based ASIC design capabilities as well as Hagenuk's ISDN system know-how to satisfy the needs of mass market ISDN terminal equipment. VIP provides domestic users of ISDN with high-level performance and functionality in a cost-optimized solution.

"With the availability of the VIP, VLSI enters into the European high-volume ISDN terminal equipment market. This strategy is a natural extension of VLSI's established competencies and capabilities in telecommunication," said Rex Naden, vice president, VLSI Network Products Division.

"VLSI's extensive telecommunications FSB(TM) library, coupled with our leadership in cell-based design, provides customers with the capability to design cost-effective, differentiated and highly integrated system solutions, while minimizing time to market. The VIP is the first product focused at the European ISDN terminal equipment market which combines analog, digital and RISC technology in one device, and is a consequence of VLSI's `mass customization' silicon strategy," said Max Losel, VLSI's European marketing director.

"Integrating all ISDN functions onto a single chip results in a number of distinct advantages to ISDN terminal equipment manufacturers," said Rinschen, Marketing Director, Hagenuk. "These include enhanced performance, decreases in power consumption, smaller PCBs, and most importantly a reduction in overall system cost. The VIP offers system developers a single-chip solution compared to multichip alternatives from other vendors. An added benefit of the VIP is that since it is a programmable device, it offers ample opportunity to differentiate products with additional software-based options."

Product Overview

The VIP offers developers a unique programmable engine for ISDN subscriber communications. It includes all the circuitry required to implement a full featured ISDN terminal, making it a highly integrated and feature-rich solution. The VIP supports two 64 Kbit/sec and one 16 Kbit/sec channels (i.e. 2B+D), conforming to the Basic Rate Interface ISDN (BRI-ISDN) standard with direct connections to the European network via an on-chip S0 (four-wire) interface.

At the heart of the VIP is an ARM(TM) core, recognized by industry experts as one of the leading RISC architectures for deeply embedded applications. This platform permits today's as well as future ISDN services, features and functions to be enabled in software while maintaining the existing hardware configuration, thereby extending the product life cycle of a given design. The VIP also benefits from other on-chip features such as a PCM codec, UART, PCM/DSP interface, keyboard scanner, D-channel data link controller as well as a programmable memory interface.

For those customers planning to provide their own software, development is accomplished using VLSI's integrated ARM development tool, JumpStart(TM). This software and hardware platform runs on both UNIX workstations as well as PCs and in combination with the VIP/DB development board and a ROM-ICE system offers a complete software/hardware development platform. Given this development environment, software developers can port their existing code as well as develop new features for the VIP with minimal effort.

For customers that desire alternative software solutions, VLSI plans to provide third-party software.

Product Pricing and Availability

The VIP is in production and has been approved as conforming to the ITU (I.430) and the ETSI (ETS 300 012) specifications, as well as meeting the stringent EMI and power consumption criteria, that enable EPA systems design. The VIP has been designed using VLSI's 0.6-Micron CMOS, triple-layer metal mixed-signal technology and is available in a 144-pin MQFP package. Initially, the product is being offered in Europe only. (Contact VLSI Europe for pricing information.)

Future Plans

"This is the first in a family of ISDN single chip solutions, whose functionality is ideally suited to the increasing mass market demands of customized ISDN terminal equipment. ISDN is rapidly evolving into an industry standard for almost all mass market communications equipment. There is therefore an urgent need to provide ISDN Basic Rate access capability for a large range of equipment, including voice terminals, DECT PABXs and PCMCIA-cards," said Dr. Jose Lopez, Hagenuk's ISDN Marketing Manager.

"VLSI and Hagenuk are working to engineer derivatives of the VIP specifically optimized for these markets. This will further increase the level of integration offered and lead to significant reductions in design cycle time as well as system cost," said Dr. Winfried Jerono, Hagenuk Director of Research and Development.

VLSI Company Overview

VLSI Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VLSI) designs and manufactures application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs) based on its library of FSB(TM) functional system blocks. Targeting its offerings towards the communications, computing and consumer entertainment marketplaces, the company offers its customers advanced system-level integration capabilities. The company headquarters is based in San Jose, California, with 1994 revenues of $587 million, and has approximately 2,700 employees worldwide.

Hagenuk Company Overview

Hagenuk Telecom designs and manufactures products to simplify and speed private and commercial telecommunications applications. Its range of products offers customized system solutions to meet diverse requirements. Hagenuk products include HomeHandys, OfficeHandys, ISDN-Telephones, GSM-Handys satellite telephones and telephone equipment. The company is headquartered in Kiel, Germany and has approximately 1,100 employees. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: FSB and Jumpstart are trademarks of VLSI Technology, Inc. All other trade names are trademarks of their respective companies. EPA is an acronym for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

CONTACT: VLSI Technology, Inc. (U.S.)

Don Davis, 408/922-5244 (public relations)

or

VLSI Technology, Inc. (Europe)

Hans Joachim Schmidt, 49-089-62706-364 (corp. commun.)

or

Hagenuk (Europe)

Jose Lopez, 49-089-62706-355 (editorial content,

telecommun. marketing)