Mini-PCI Card Will Provide Simultaneous Operation of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Wireless Technologies
SAN DIEGO, CA - September 17, 2002 - Silicon Wave, a world-leading silicon developer and provider for Wireless Personal Area Networks, and Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions, announced today that Z-Com, a manufacturer of a complete line of wireless LAN products, has licensed their mini-PCI card reference design with Blue802™ Technology. Blue802™ Technology is a jointly developed solution from Silicon Wave and Intersil that delivers simultaneous, robust operation of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless technologies. Z-Com's card is targeted to OEMs looking to easily add both wireless technologies to their notebook PCs and is expected to be shipping in volume by this Fall.
"Silicon Wave and Intersil have jointly developed the technology that eliminates the interference issues between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless technologies when both are integrated in the same notebook," said Don Chu, executive vice president of Z-Com. "Z-Com uses this technology to design products that allow OEMs to take full advantage of the benefits of both wireless technologies."
"Z-Com's commitment to delivering high performance products at a competitive price means that OEMs worldwide will be able to add Bluetooth technology to their Wi-Fi enabled notebooks at a very small additional cost," said Jarvis Tou, vice president of marketing and product management for Silicon Wave. "We anticipate the demand for both wireless technologies in notebooks will significantly increase this Fall."
About Blue802™ Technology
Silicon Wave and Intersil have developed Blue802™ Technology, a unique collaborative real-time communications interface at the MAC layer that is transparent to the notebook PC or portable device user. Blue802™ Technology allows the simultaneous operation of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless technologies without interference in the 2.4GHz band while maintaining connectivity and optimizing system throughput, range, and responsiveness. This enables PC-based Bluetooth applications such as mouse, keyboard, printing, file transfer and portable device synchronization to run at the same time the user's PC is connected to a network over Wi-Fi. Blue802™ Technology is designed to be compatible with future coexistence techniques, including Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH), but adds a higher level of performance at lower system cost in collocated systems such as notebook PCs.
About Z-Com
Z-Com Inc., established in 1995, develops, manufactures, and markets a series of high-performance local/wide area wireless data products and solutions for wireless Internet access and various mobile data applications. Z-Com's headquarter and manufacturing facilities are located in Science-Based Industrial Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan with sales subsidiaries in Cerritos, CA, Rockaway, NJ, and London, England. Together with Taiwan's strength in product engineering and competitive manufacturing,
Z-Com has formed a valuable network of resources with expertise in communication system engineering, radio technology, communication protocol & application software development, networking technologies, and manufacturing capabilities among others. The company's web site is located at http://www.zcom.com.tw.
About Silicon Wave, Inc.
Based in San Diego, Silicon Wave is a leading provider of low power, highly integrated RF communication system components for the global Bluetooth™ wireless market. Silicon Wave products and services include radio modems, baseband processors, software solutions and a baseband IP licensing program. Founded in 1997, the company was the first to deliver a fully qualified, single-chip radio modem for Bluetooth communications and first to achieve Bluetooth Specification Version 1.1 qualification for its products. Silicon Wave is an Associate Member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. The company's web site is located at http://www.SiliconWave.com.
Intersil + Elantec Means More For Our Customers
Intersil Corporation is a global semiconductor leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog and wireless networking solutions. The acquisition of Elantec Semiconductor, Inc., expanded Intersil's product portfolios to address four fast growing markets - flat panel displays, optical storage (CD and DVD recordable), power management, and wireless networking. Intersil brings added customer value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that enhance the computing experience for people wherever they live, work or travel. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the company's web site and career page at www.intersil.com
