AMI Semiconductor Launches XPressArray-II for Conversion of High-Density FPGAs and Design of Mid-Density ASICs

Newest addition to XPressArray™ family improves performance, reduces costs and shortens time-to-market

Pocatello, Idaho - September 27, 2004 - AMI Semiconductor (NASDAQ: AMIS), a designer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art structured digital and integrated mixed-signal products, today announced its XPressArray-II™ (XPA-II) product, the newest addition to the market leading XPressArray structured ASIC family. Based on a hybrid fabrication process, XPA-II combines advanced 0.15-micron TSMC process technology with programmable metal in AMI Semiconductor’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to deliver leading-edge solutions with low NRE and accelerated time-to-market.

The 1.5V/1.2V XPA-II product is a high performance, low power, low cost, drop in, pin-for-pin replacement for current generation FPGAs. In addition, the low NRE and accelerated manufacturing cycle times make it an ideal platform for mid-density ASIC design. The advanced engineering behind XPA-II makes it an optimal solution for applications such as wireless and wired networking infrastructure, storage systems, printers, medical ultrasound/imaging systems, military/aerospace communications or any other application utilizing FPGAs or ASICs.

XPA-II is a flexible, high-performance, feature packed platform that supports densities of up to 3.9M ASIC gates, delay-locked loops (DLL), phase-locked loops (PLL), local clock speeds of up to 500MHz, and system clock speeds of up to 210MHz based on single-cycle 18x18bit multiplier performance for DSP applications.  Flexible, high-density memories are critical to many designs and the XPA-II platform delivers in the form of 18Kbit initializable dual-port RAM blocks that can be configured to provide a total of 415Kbits to 5.6Mbits of block and distributed memory.

Flexibility is also a key advantage of the XPA-II I/O technology that includes fully configurable signal, core and I/O power supply pad locations and support for a wide range of I/O standards, including PCI, PCI-X, Mode 1 and Mode 2, GTL, HSTL, SSTL and LVPECL. The I/O technology also features a double data rate (DDR) memory interface and 1Gbps low-voltage differential signalling (LVDS). All of these features are available in a platform that supports power dissipation of just 55nW/MHz/gate, reducing total chip power consumption to less than 20 percent of a standard FPGA.

“Structured digital products have shown significant traction in the semiconductor marketplace because they simply offer better cost, performance and power than FPGAs and quicker time-to-market than cell-based solutions,” said Vince Hopkin, vice president, AMI Semiconductor, structured digital products.  “XPressArray-II builds on the success of our proven conversion technology and allows customers to realize lower production costs and faster time-to-market than alternative solutions, providing the best value on the market. AMIS was the first to produce a 1.8V structured digital product and is committed to continuing to deliver strong products, like XPA-II.”

“AMI Semiconductor will have great success with its XPressArray-II product, especially since it offers fairly high gate counts and memory content and is one of the few pin-to-pin compatible structured ASICs designed for FPGA conversion, said Rich Wawrzyniak, senior analyst, ASIC – SoC for Semico Research Corp. “These are things the market is coming to value more and more as time passes.”

XPA-II supports the trend toward a lower cost solution for custom digital logic with pricing projected at $25-$100 for 10,000 units per year, dependent on density and pin-count. Beta customer support has already begun with full production expected in Q1, 2005.  Delivery from start to finish is 10-16 weeks with prototyping in the three-five week range depending upon the package design.

For additional information about XPressArray-II, please contact your local sales representative at www.amis.com/sales or at www.amis.com/asics/structured_asics/XPA-II.html

What industry analysts are saying about XPressArray-II.
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About AMI Semiconductor

AMI Semiconductor (AMIS) is a leader in the design and manufacture of silicon solutions for the real world. As a widely recognized innovator in state-of-the-art integrated mixed-signal products, mixed-signal foundry services and structured digital products, AMIS is committed to providing customers with the optimal value, quickest time-to-market semiconductor solutions. Offering unparalleled manufacturing flexibility and dedication to customer service, AMI Semiconductor operates globally with headquarters in Pocatello, Idaho, European corporate offices in Oudenaarde, Belgium, and a network of sales and design centers located in the key markets of the United States, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.