Cascade Semiconductor Solutions, Inc. Announces Availability of Optimized PCI Express Port Logic IP Core

PCI-SIG Developers Conference, San Jose, Calif., June 2, 2003 – Cascade Semiconductor Solutions, Inc. (cascadeip.com), a leading supplier of intellectual property for the PCI Express market, today announced the availability of new versions of their CascadeXpress™ PCI Express Port Logic IP core for use in low power and cost/area sensitive applications. Cascade has targeted this core for Mobile and NEWCARD applications in the PCI Express market and leverages the core in their Compliance IP targeted for PCI Express test card and switch applications.

The optimized core is a x1 configuration of the CX-PL Port Logic core including the PHY, Data Link, and Transaction Layer logic functions as well as supporting application specific modules and Power Management controller functionality. The x1 configuration is highly optimized for size and power including additional clock partitioning allowing for use of advanced clock management techniques to minimize power consumption.

The CascadeXpress™ CX-PL Port Logic core provides developers with a complete PCI Express port logic implementation compliant to both the 1.0a and 1.0 versions of the PCI Express specification. Unique partitioning of the core architecture allows users to encapsulate product-specific requirements into the application logic, configuration space, and PHY (SerDes) implementations without impacting the compliance aspects of the core.

Cascade has leveraged the optimized, x1 core for use in their Compliance IP technology for the Agilent E2969A PCI Express Protocol Test Card. The Compliance IP implementation is a two port PCI Express switch design, which supports full upstream and downstream configuration spaces as well the framework for integration of test features specific to the PCI Express protocol for end-point and platform interoperability. The IP is suitable for either ASIC or FPGA based applications.

"Cascade is very excited to be making our Port Logic and Compliance IP technology available to the industry," said John Wolcott, Vice President of Business Development at Cascade. "The use of the CX-PL and our Compliance IP further validates our leadership position in delivering PCI Express IP solutions in critical applications. We expect to see more growth in this area of the market in the coming months and Cascade's IP products continue to help our customers capitalize on the advantages of the PCI Express architecture."

"Agilent is seeing increasing interest and momentum in the area of PCI Express and is addressing this market with the development of a wide range of exerciser, protocol analyzer and compliance test products," said Ralf Link, R&D Manager for the Digital Verification Solutions Division at Agilent Technologies in Germany. "Selecting IP solutions from Cascade helped us with our product developments and allowed us to leverage their expertise in this emerging market."

About Cascade Semiconductor Solutions, Inc.
Cascade Semiconductor Solutions, Inc. is a Beaverton, Oregon based privately held company developing IP cores and highly integrated SOC-IP products for the PCI Express market. Launched in 2001 by a group of experienced industry veterans, Cascade has quickly moved into a leadership position in the PCI Express IP space with our scalable, multi-lane capable PCI Express Port Logic IP (CX-PL).

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