New MIPS-Based™ SOC from ADMtek of Taiwan Targets Burgeoning Worldwide Home Gateway Market

ADM5120 Chip is the First MIPS-Based SOC Developed by a Taiwan IC Design Company

TAIPEI, Taiwan, April 8, 2003  -- MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS, MIPSB), a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and business applications, today announced that ADMtek Inc., a leading Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company and licensee since September, 2002, has successfully taped out its MIPS-based SOC design that is targeted to the worldwide home gateway market.  The announcement was made by ADMtek’s CEO at an event celebrating MIPS Technologies one-year anniversary of entering the Taiwan marketplace (see companion announcements dated April 8, 2003).  

One of Taiwan’s leading fabless vendors, ADMtek has more than 50 percent market share of the home gateway market.  This MIPS-based chip, implemented in a 0.18 micron process by Chartered Semiconductor, integrates a MIPS32™ 4Kc™ core with a six port switch engine, PHY, USB 1.1 host, and a PCI bridge.  Other features include NAND flash and NOR flash supports, which help to reduce system cost.  Other applications for the ADM5120 chip include networking security devices, firewalls, VPN routers and wireless networking gateways.

The networking chip market grew rapidly in 2002.  According to the Institute for Information Industry in Taiwan, total shipments of switch-related chips are expected to grow by 17 percent in the first quarter of 2003.  The growth in the home gateway market is due, in part, to leading Taiwan fabless semiconductor companies, such as ADMtek, that are expanding the technology’s appeal to consumers with lower-cost solutions.

“Taiwanese semiconductor companies need to leverage industry-standard technology, such as the MIPS architecture, in order to reduce costs and increase competitiveness to compete in the global marketplace with leading IC suppliers,” said Tony Chang, president of ADMtek.  “When combined with the MIPS architecture’s broad ecosystem of third party software tools and optimized peripheral IP, we are confident our solution will become the first choice for OEMs looking for low-cost, highly competitive SOCs.”    

“The low power consumption and high performance features of MIPS cores are ideal for networking applications that demand high integration, high media processing and high data bandwidth,” said Jack Browne, vice president of worldwide sales at MIPS Technologies.  “With the ADM5120 chip, ADMtek joins other MIPS licensees who have taped out more than a hundred 32-bit MIPS chips over the years.  The result is MIPS-based solutions are gaining market share in numerous embedded market segments.”

About ADMtek
ADMtek Incorporated is a fables integrated circuits (IC) design company specialized in networking and communication fields. ADMtek designs, develops, and supplies ICs that meet customers’ needs, and offers complete service to worldwide customers.  There are around 100 employees in ADMtek.  The headquarter of ADMtek is located in Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park, the “Silicon Valley” of Taiwan.  To provide service to international customers, it also has an office in San Jose, California.  For more information, please visit www.admtek.com.tw

About MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of industry standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and business applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions. The company licenses its intellectual property to semiconductor companies, ASIC developers, and system OEMs. MIPS Technologies and its licensees offer the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif., and can be reached at +1 (650) 567-5000 or www.mips.com.

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MIPS is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, and MIPS-based, MIPS32 and 4Kc are trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc.  All other trademarks referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.