Kawasaki Adds Four Major System-Level Blocks to ASIC IP Portfolio for a Broad Range of Applications

• Blocks include 802.11, MIPS CPUs, Serial ATA, and MPEG-4
• Kawasaki also announces IP Partners Program

SAN JOSE, Calif. — February 2, 2004 — Kawasaki Microelectronics, a leader in advanced yet affordable ASICs, announced today that it has added Wi-Fi Certified IEEE 802.11 MAC and baseband technology from Globespan Virata, synthesizable MIPS32™ 4KEc™ and M4K™ proven processor cores from MIPS Technologies, and Serial ATA protocol and PHY layer technology from CEVA to its ASIC intellectual property (IP) portfolio. In addition, Kawasaki announced that it has added a complete MPEG-4 video and audio technology to its ASIC IP portfolio. Customers can immediately use these technologies in their Kawasaki ASIC designs to simplify their development process and decrease time-to-market.

"We are expecting ASIC design starts to increase 10-15 % over last year," said Rich Wawrzyniak, Senior Analyst, ASICs Services at Semico Research Corporation. "With Kawasaki’s strong ASIC IP portfolio, the company is poised to be one of the companies leading this growth."

"Kawasaki’s strategic plan is to grow our large base of business in the consumer market and to expand aggressively into the imaging, networking, wireless, and storage markets", said Hideki Yoneda, executive vice president of Kawasaki. "The technologies we are adding today significantly strengthen our IP portfolio for our target markets. We plan to continue to add major system-level blocks to stay at the leading edge of ASIC technology. For example, we plan to add PCI-Express link and protocol layer technology to our ASIC IP portfolio in the first half of 2004."

Kawasaki IP Partners Program

Kawasaki also announced it has launched an IP Partners Program. Kawasaki's business model is to focus on its core competencies and work with partners for everything else. One of the company’s key competencies is the development of full-custom IP, such as SerDes. Kawasaki often relies upon third parties for digital IP. Unfortunately, a key obstacle to the proliferation of third-party digital IP is the negotiation of license agreements, which can take more time to complete than the technical evaluation of the IP, delaying the ASIC’s project schedule in the process.

To simplify the usage of third-party digital IP, Kawasaki will negotiate license agreements with selected third-party IP suppliers, its "IP Partners". Customers who select IP from Kawasaki’s IP Partners can be assured that Kawasaki can quickly acquire the IP on their behalf, speeding their ASIC’s time-to-market.

"Mentor is pleased to join Kawasaki's IP Partners Program", said Michael Kaskowitz general manager of the IP Division at Mentor. "We believe our extensive selection of digital communication IP will be an excellent complement to Kawasaki's advanced full-custom IP."

 
About Kawasaki Microelectronics

Kawasaki Microelectronics is the leader in advanced yet affordable ASIC semiconductor technology solutions. The company’s innovative core technologies and world-class design support are used in the consumer electronics, computer, office-automation, networking, wireless, and electronic-storage markets. Deployed worldwide, Kawasaki’s products enable customers to quickly introduce highly competitive solutions. The company is an active participant in industry standards organizations, including the Network Processing Forum (NPF), Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG), USB Implementers Forum, MPEG Industry Forum (MPEGIF), Mobile Computing Promotion Consortium (MCPC), and the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). Kawasaki has design centers in Boston, Osaka, San Jose, Taipei, and Tokyo. For more information, contact the company at 408-570-0555, or visit its English-language web site at http://www.klsi.com/, its Japanese-language web site at http://www.k-micro.com/, or e-mail to info@k-micro.com.

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"Wi-Fi®" and the Wi-Fi logo are the registered trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance and "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED," "Wi-Fi ZONE," "Wi-Fi Alliance," their respective logos, and "Wi-Fi Protected Access" are the trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

MIPS and MIPS64 are registered trademarks in the United States and other countries, and MIPS32, MIPS-Based, 4K, 4KEm, M4K, 4KEp, 5Kc, 5Kf and SOC-it are trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.