Micronas USA Licenses DRM Solution from Elliptic

December 11, 2007 - Ottawa, Canada: Elliptic Semiconductor, Inc., provider of semiconductor intellectual property cores and software for secure communications, and Micronas USA, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Micronas (Zurich, Switzerland, SWX Swiss Exchange: MASN), a leading supplier of innovative, application-specific IC system solutions for consumer electronics, today announced that Micronas USA has licensed the digital rights management (DRM) Elliptic security solution for use in its system-on-chips (SoCs) aimed at consumer electronics.

The requirements for security in high-definition television and audio-video decoding have become much more challenging over the last few years with multiple DRM and conditional access solutions in use. The partnership between Micronas USA and Elliptic is a great fit as Micronas USA recognizes and understands the evolving needs of its customers in IPTV streaming applications, and Elliptic has extensive experience in rendering cost effective security solutions in silicon.

"Working with Elliptic, we were able address the copy protection and DRM needs of our next generation System on Chip in a cost-effective and timely fashion," said Reiner Steffens, Director, System Marketing at Micronas USA, Inc. "The broad portfolio of ready-to-use IP cores, combined with in-depth understanding of cryptographic issues made Elliptic a valuable partner. Their cores are a perfect addition to our chip-internal security engine architecture which is tailored to address DRM, Conditional Access, and Content Protection and Copy Management for the IPTV, broadcast TV, and high-definition DVD markets."

"It has been a great pleasure to work with the team at Micronas USA. They were extremely precise in their requirements, and thorough in their integration and understanding of the capabilities of the IP cores we delivered to them. It was a pleasure to deal with them from project kick-off through completion," indicated Richard White, President and CEO of Elliptic Semiconductor, Inc. "We look forward to a long-term relationship with Micronas USA and working with them closely as DRM and conditional access in consumer electronics technology evolves."

Micronas (SWX Swiss Exchange: MASN), a semiconductor designer and manufacturer with worldwide operations, is a leading supplier of cutting-edge IC and sensor system solutions for consumer and automotive electronics. As a market leader in innovative global TV system solutions, Micronas leverages its expertise into new markets emerging through the digitization of audio and video content. Micronas serves all major consumer brands worldwide, many of them in continuous partnerships seeking joint success. While the holding company is headquartered in Zurich (Switzerland), operational headquarters are based in Freiburg (Germany). Currently, the Micronas Group employs about 2200 people. In 2006 it generated CHF 813/USD 648/EUR 515 million in sales. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Micronas Group, Micronas USA designs, develops and delivers a diverse portfolio of highly integrated real-time streaming audio/video encoder and decoder products targeted at the world's most significant digital communications markets. For more information on Micronas and its products, please visit: www.micronasusa.com as well as www.micronas.com.

About Elliptic

Recently ranked as the fastest growing provider of semiconductor IP by Gartner, Elliptic provides semiconductor intellectual property (IP) cores and middleware for secure communications ranging from low power to multi-gigabit per second implementations. Elliptic SIP cores enable system-on-chip designers to efficiently balance power, performance and silicon area in complex security-based systems. Demanding customers in markets such as implantable devices, wireless, storage, content distribution and high performance communications trust Elliptic IP cores.