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AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, today introduced the industry’s most energy-efficient microcontroller (MCU) and wireless MCU solutions for power-sensitive embedded applications. The new C8051F96x MCU and Si102x and Si103x wireless MCU families are based on patented low-power technology that enables 40 percent less system current draw and up to 65 percent longer battery life than competing MCU solutions. Designed to address the unique power requirements of battery-operated embedded systems, Silicon Labs’ ultra-lower-power MCU families are ideal for smart metering (water, gas and heat meters), in-home utility monitoring, wireless security, home and building automation, portable medical and asset tracking products.

Embedded developers designing battery-powered systems, particularly those using wireless data links, require power optimization strategies that are tailored to their application needs. Silicon Labs has designed the new F96x 8-bit MCUs with these ultra-low power and wireless connectivity requirements in mind. The Si102x/3x wireless MCUs combine the power-saving features of the F96x MCUs with the company’s EZRadioPRO® sub-GHz transceiver into a single-chip solution that is ideal for battery-operated embedded systems requiring both energy efficiency and industry-leading RF performance.

To achieve best-in-class low-power and wireless optimizations, Silicon Labs’ F96x and Si102x/3x families offer three major system-level innovations:

• Superior energy transfer efficiency for battery-operated systems. Greater efficiency in transferring energy from the battery results in less energy lost as heat dissipation, which reduces system-level power consumption and extends battery life. The F96x and Si102x/3x families’ on-chip dc-dc buck converter enables significantly higher efficiency in voltage conversion compared to a linear regulator, resulting in energy transfer efficiencies of up to 85 percent. The on-chip buck converter can supply up to 250 mW of power, providing energy not only for the MCU but also for other circuits in the system such as an RF transceiver. Silicon Labs is the first semiconductor company to integrate a power-saving dc-dc buck converter on an MCU, resulting in not only superior energy efficiency but also lower component count and BOM cost.
• Reduced time in active mode. Since MCUs use maximum power in active mode, the F96x and Si102x/3x devices incorporate several innovations to reduce the time spent in active mode. An on-chip Dedicated Packet Processing Engine (DPPE) with hardware acceleration blocks enables more than a fivefold increase in RF message processing speed and allows the CPU to remain idle during transactions, thereby reducing active time and the current load on the battery. The MCUs also include a low-power pulse counter that operates autonomously in sleep mode without CPU intervention. The on-chip pulse counter is especially useful in reducing power in utility metering applications that use pulse trains or switch closures while monitoring fluid flow.
• Reduced power in sleep mode. The new MCUs integrate the lowest power real-time clock (RTC) in the industry, enabling 40 percent lower power in sleep mode than competing MCUs. The MCUs achieve 400 nA sleep current with the RTC running and 70 nA sleep current (without the RTC) at 3 V. An ultra-low 10 nA sleep current mode is additionally available at minimum voltage. The MCUs also offer the industry’s fastest wakeup time from sleep mode at 2 microseconds. As a result of these state-of-the-art low-power design techniques, systems based on the F96x and Si102x/3x families can support battery life greater than 20 years.

“The F96x and Si102x/3x families incorporate some of the best mixed-signal innovations in the ultra-low-power MCU market,” said Mike Salas, general manager of Silicon Labs’ MCU products. “By substantially reducing overall system power, our new MCUs enable developers to reduce the size and cost of batteries used in embedded systems or to significantly increase battery life while delivering end products with industry-leading RF performance.”

Comprehensive Development Environment

Silicon Labs’ F96x and Si102x/3x families are supported by a new Unified Development Platform (UDP) featuring a single motherboard, modular boards, integrated LCD, and ample real estate for prototyping, expansion and system integration. The UDP supports MCU code and firmware development, RF design and optimization, and network and protocol stacks such as the wireless M-Bus stack for smart metering applications. Silicon Labs also offers Wireless Development Suite (WDS) software that enables developers to easily create efficient, robust and cost-effective wireless applications with little or no RF design experience. Detailed documentation, reference designs, run-time MAC/PHY and code examples are additionally available to speed up product evaluation. To learn more about the UDP and WDS software, visit www.silabs.com/UDP and www.silabs.com/WDS.

Pricing and Availability

Production quantities of Silicon Labs’ F96x MCUs and Si102x/Si103x wireless MCUs are available now in a variety of small-footprint packages. Pricing in 10,000-unit quantities begins at $2.41 for the F96x MCUs, $4.39 for the Si102x wireless MCUs and $3.27 for the Si103x wireless MCUs (all prices in USD).

Silicon Labs offers a number of hardware and software development kits ranging in price from $129 to $829 (USD MSRP). For additional product information, samples and development tools for the F96x and Si102x/3x families, please visitwww.silabs.com/pr/lowpower and www.silabs.com/pr/wirelessmcu, respectively.

Silicon Laboratories Inc.

Silicon Laboratories is an industry leader in the innovation of high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs. Developed by a world-class engineering team with unsurpassed expertise in mixed-signal design, Silicon Labs’ diverse portfolio of patented semiconductor solutions offers customers significant advantages in performance, size and power consumption. For more information about Silicon Labs, please visit www.silabs.com.

Cautionary Language

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on Silicon Laboratories’ current expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of factors that could impact Silicon Laboratories’ financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, please refer to Silicon Laboratories’ filings with the SEC. Silicon Laboratories disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Note to editors: Silicon Laboratories, Silicon Labs, the “S” symbol, the Silicon Laboratories logo and the Silicon Labs logo are trademarks of Silicon Laboratories Inc. All other product names noted herein may be trademarks of their respective holders.

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Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:VTSS), a leading provider of advanced IC solutions for Carrier and Enterprise networks, is again expanding its Carrier Ethernet portfolio with a new family of switch engines, Serval™. Complementing the previously announced Jaguar™, LynX™ and Caracal™ solutions for Carrier access, aggregation, and mobile applications, Serval is optimized for power and cost-sensitive applications at the network edge, delivering 75% lower power and 50% lower BOM cost than competitive options.

Serval is the industry’s only switch engine family to support MPLS/MPLS-TP LER and LSR and patented LTE-advanced-ready IEEE 1588v2, useable in both fiber and microwave applications. The family also offers the most complete Ethernet Operations, Administration & Maintenance (OAM) support, critical for businesses which typically receive Ethernet services spanning multiple service provider networks.

“Ethernet markets are growing quickly — we forecast double-digit CAGRs for both Ethernet microwave backhaul equipment and Ethernet Access Devices through 2015, based on the dual fundamental drivers of growing traffic levels, and operators’ migration from legacy TDM backbones to all-Ethernet access/aggregation networks,” stated Michael Howard, principal analyst, carrier networks, at Infonetics Research. “Vitesse designed Serval to be optimized for Ethernet-based access systems, which will enable manufacturers to produce equipment that will help service providers achieve the operations efficiencies they need as they migrate their access networks to Ethernet.”

Design In Advantages with Serval

Serval is ideal for fiber, microwave and millimeter-wave backhaul, as well as wireline network edge devices, because it uniquely offers full OAM in hardware, including the Maintenance Entity End Points (MEPs) defined in IEEE 802.ag as MEP-Up and MEP-Down. Such connectivity fault management is crucial for businesses which must often rely on various service providers for Ethernet access.

Serval delivers a Vitesse patented feature set for Transparent Clock support over Microwave networks, whereas the competition lags on implementing the same level of precision in Vitesse’s IEEE1588v2 solution.

Serval extends beyond simple priority queuing, and includes hierarchical QoS, i.e. multi-stage scheduling, policing, and traffic shaping. It also provides the ability to separate subscriber types with per subscriber queuing, a unique capability of Serval compared to any other access Ethernet switch.

Serval is an Ethernet-optimized solution that meets all of the stringent Carrier network requirements and delivers twice the switching bandwidth at half the power consumed by a comparable NPU-based solution. In contrast, other solutions carry the high power and cost penalty of legacy TDM support. Additionally, they lack advanced Carrier Ethernet network requirements such as precision IEEE 1588v2 timing, the essential precision timing protocol required for operating mobile and edge networks.

Serval delivers the superior network timing and architectural advantages pivotal to successful deployments of small cell, mobile backhaul and network access equipment, such as Ethernet Access Devices (EAD) and Network Interface Devices (NID).

“Power is one of the highest OPEX considerations in many emerging regional networks, such as China and India. Compared to competitive ASSP and NPU-based solutions which range from 6-15W, Serval delivers the industry’s richest Carrier feature set for access-edge applications at less than 3W,” said Uday Mudoi, director of product marketing at Vitesse. “With Carriers trending towards small micro and pico cells to add network capacity, Serval is ideal for this burgeoning application. Additionally, with its industrial temperature range support, Serval enables a variety of outdoor and fanless designs, such as microwave backhaul enclosures and 1U Ethernet access device systems.”

Availability and Samples

Samples of the VSC7418 are available this month. More information about Serval can be found at: www.vitesse.com/products/product.php?number=VSC7418.

About Vitesse

Vitesse designs, develops and markets a diverse portfolio of high-performance, cost-competitive semiconductor solutions for Carrier and Enterprise networks worldwide. Engineering excellence and dedicated customer service distinguish Vitesse as an industry leader in high-performance Ethernet LAN, WAN, and RAN, Ethernet-over-SONET/SDH, Optical Transport (OTN), and best-in-class Signal Integrity and Physical Layer products for Ethernet, Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, InfiniBand®, Video, and PCI Express applications. Additional company and product information is available at www.vitesse.com.

Vitesse is a registered trademark and Jaguar, LynX, Caracal, and Serval are trademarks of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.

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XP Power today announced the EMH250 and EMH350 series of highly efficient single output 250 Watt and 350 Watt AC-DC power supplies. Meeting the IT equipment safety specifications of UL/TUV/EN 60950-1 and the stringent medical safety standards of UL/TUV/EN 60601-1 the EMH series suit a broad range of information technology, industrial, medical equipment and surgical life support applications. All models are also BF rated.

Both the EMH250 250 W and the EMH350 350 W series have an extra wide input range of 80-275 VAC and are available in four output models covering the nominal voltages of + 12, + 18, + 24 or + 48 VDC. A trim function allows adjustment of the output voltage to within +/- 10% of stated nominal. A +12 VDC / 0.6 A fan supply is also provided across the range. In addition, the EMH350 series includes a +5 VDC / 2.0 A standby supply. Unlike many competitor models, full power is available from low input voltages of 90 VAC and the unit does not derate until +50 degrees C operating temperature. Measuring just 76.2 127 x 36.3 mm (3 x 5 x 1.43 inches), these industry standard format units require only 12 CFM of forced airflow in order to deliver the full output power. An optional top mounted fan is available across the range, and the EMH350 has the additional option of a variable speed fan that is dependent on the unit’s operating temperature.

The EMH350 series is also available with an optional ORing diode circuit that allows for current sharing in N+1 redundancy configurations. This series provides customers with the choice of either analogue or digital control options. The analogue signals provide Power Fail, Inhibit and Current Share. Digital signals and controls are accessible using PMBus compatible commands.  The EMH series is available from Farnell, Newark and element14 approved regional distributors, or direct from XP Power and come with a 3 year warranty.