Chipidea and Tower achieve certification for USB 2.0 OTG

Update: MIPS Technologies Acquires Chipidea (August 27, 2007)

MAIA, Portugal, MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel, October 5th 2004 – Chipidea Microelectrónica, SA (Chipidea), an analog and mixed-signal semiconductor IP provider and world leader in high-speed USB2.0 On-The-Go (OTG), and Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq:TSEM, TASE:TSEM), a premier pure-play independent wafer foundry announced today the USB-IF (Implementers Forum) certification of the CI12323wg, a USB 2.0 OTG High-Speed IP core.

This core is particularly suited for customers designing chips for direct communication between portable applications such as digital cameras, mobile phones, PDAs and computer peripherals.

“Chipidea has developed a strong partnership with Tower and we are proud of being a broad key supplier of Analog and Mixed-Signal IP for Tower’s customers. The USB-IF certification of this USB IP core demonstrates our commitment to engineering excellence and our care to customer needs”, said José Franca, CEO of Chipidea Microelectrónica.

The USB-IF, a non-profit organization (www.usb.org), is known for its rigorous specifications. Passing the compliance tests on this advanced product demonstrates the performance and quality of its design and manufacturing.

The CI12323wg is a highly competitive and cost-effective IP core with a total area of 1mm2 (including all termination resistors and OTG extensions). Its maximum current consumption in High-Speed Transmit mode is below 50mA and it is fully UTMI+ compatible. This certified IP complements other USB IP components at Tower’s 0.18um technology, including a USB 2.0 High-Speed Phy (CI12315wg) and a USB 2.0 OTG Full Speed Phy (CI12312wg). The entire family of USB IP is backed by ChipIdea’s extensive customer support.

“Tower is pleased to add this USB-IF compliant 0.18um core, to our IP portfolio,” said Sergio Kusevitzky, Vice-President for IP and design services. “The strong partnership with Chipidea, which continues to yield silicon proven Mixed-Signal IP, is in-line with Tower’s strategy to deliver its customers high quality IP, together with capable and effective support.”

About USB On-The-Go
USB OTG (On-The-Go), announced in February 2004, is a supplement to the USB 2.0 specification. It enables portable devices to act as a limited host and exchange data directly with each other without requiring a PC to act as the host. It is estimated that more than 1.4 billion products are designed with USB ports, making USB the predominant I/O connectivity standard in the market. For more information on the USB2.0 OTG core and other products of Chipidea please consult the web site at www.chipidea.com.

About Chipidea Microelectrónica, SA
Chipidea is a leading semiconductor IP Company headquartered in Portugal providing solutions for complex connectivity, analog, mixed-signal and digital signal processing applications. Chipidea works together with all major open foundries as well as captive fabs from global semiconductor firms. Its broad portfolio ranges from AD/DA converters to Codecs, Power and Clock Management, AFEs for digital media and communications, wireless transceivers and USB physical interfaces. Chipidea employs over 160 people worldwide, with plans to reach 250 in 2006, and has offices in Europe, North America and Asia. Chipidea can be found on the web at www.chipidea.com.

About Tower Semiconductor Ltd.
Tower Semiconductor LTD. is a pure-play independent wafer foundry established in 1993. The company manufactures integrated circuits with geometries ranging from 1.0 to 0.13 micron; it also provides complementary technical services and design support. In addition to digital CMOS process technology, Tower offers advanced non-volatile memory solutions, mixed-signal and CMOS image-sensor technologies. To provide world-class customer service, the company maintains two manufacturing facilities: Fab 1 has process technologies from 1.0 to 0.35 micron and can produce up to 16,000 150mm wafers per month. Fab 2 features 0.18-micron and below process technologies, including foundry-standard technology. When fully equipped, Fab 2 is expected to offer full production capacity of 33,000 200mm wafers per month. The Tower Web site is located at www.towersemi.com.