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( July 24, 2003 - Sunnyvale, CA ) - Catalyst Semiconductor
(Nasdaq: CATS) today announced entry into a new market segment with
its first White Light Emitting Diode (LED) driver integrated circuit,
the CAT32. Designed for Li-Ion battery powered systems such as cell
phones, PDAs, MP3 players and digital cameras, the CAT32 boosts
a low-level DC battery voltage to the high voltage needed to drive
high-brightness, series connected white LEDs. The CAT32 operates
as a switch-mode, 1.2MHz fixed-frequency, constant-current boost
regulator that has been crafted to drive white LEDs efficiently
and at low cost. The CAT32 was developed as the first product in
a new business area for Catalyst Semiconductor. Additional driver
products are expected to be introduced quarterly.
"White LEDs, made by such suppliers as Nichia, are the choice
backlighting source for the color liquid crystal displays (LCDs)
found in digital cameras, cellular phones, GPS systems and PDAs.
Color purity and brightness are a function of LED current. By driving
a series string of LEDs, each LED has the same brightness and light
spectrum. A white LED has a typical voltage drop of 3.5 volts to
4 volts. When placed in series they cannot be driven directly from
a low-voltage battery. The CAT32 boosts a low voltage and automatically
regulates drive current for up to four series LEDs. Drive current
is customer selected with a single resistor,” said Catalyst
Director of Marketing and Applications David Gillooly. “We
have lowered the quiescent current by a factor of two over competitive
solutions, which increases efficiency and is important at lower
drive currents, and added open load protection at the request of
early part evaluators. With cell phone unit volumes projected to
be over 500 million units, the rugged, low power CAT32 is priced
for high-volume cell phone and PDA markets in China, Korea and the
Far East.”
Mr. Gillooly added, “Catalyst Semiconductor provides low-cost
EEPROMs to many of the market segments that also need White LED
drivers. Built on the same low-cost CMOS processes as our EEPROM
products, we intend to bring multiple driver products to market
that offer increased integrated functionality and that set new price
points for the industry over the next 12 months.”
CAT32 White LED Driver Applications
Target applications for white LED drivers include backlighting of
LCD displays in PDAs, MP3 players, Cell Phones, GPS terminals and
digital cameras. In addition, white LEDs are used for backlighting
keypads, camera flash equipment and illumination in automotive markets.
CAT32 Features
The CAT32 features include:
– Load-fault protection against an open circuit
– Efficiency over 80%
– Single resistor LED current programming
– PWM and DC level brightness control
– “Zero” power shutdown
– Current limiting
– 1.2MHz fixed-frequency switching
– Packages with 0.8mm maximum thickness
Price, Packages and Availability
The CAT32 is available in thin packages, as often required by the
cell phone and PDA markets it targets. The 6-lead SOT23 package
has a maximum thickness of 1mm. The 3 mm by 3 mm, and 3 mm by 4.9
mm footprint TDFN packages have a maximum thickness of 0.8mm. Prices
start at $0.55 in 10,000 piece quantities. Devices are available
for sampling now and production is scheduled for the third quarter
of 2003.
Data sheets are available at http://www.catalyst-semiconductor.com/documents/32.pdf.
Samples are available to qualified engineers by sending an email
to David Gillooly at david.gillooly@catsemi.com or by contacting
any Catalyst Semiconductor sales office.
Founded in 1985, Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. is headquartered
in Sunnyvale, California. The Company is a developer and marketer
of programmable products used in telecommunications, networking
systems, computation, automotive, industrial and consumer markets.
The Company designs and markets a broad range of programmable products
including Flash Memories, Parallel and Serial EEPROMs with I2C,
SPI and Microwire interfaces, NVRAMs, Digitally Programmable Potentiometers,
Microcontroller Supervisory circuits and other programmable Mixed
Signal products. Typical applications for the Company’s products
include optical networks, modems, wireless LANs, network cards,
PC BIOS, DIMM modules, cellular telephones, digital satellite box
receivers, set-top boxes and Internet routers. Catalyst's Quality
Management System is ISO9001 certified. Additional information about
Catalyst Semiconductor is available on the Company’s web site
at www.catalyst semiconductor.com.
Except for those statements that report the Company’s historical
results, the statements being made are forward-looking statements.
Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
in the forward-looking statements is contained under the heading
"Certain Factors That May Affect the Company’s Future
Results of Operations" listed from time to time in Catalyst’s
SEC reports including but not limited to the report on Form 10-K
for the year ended April 30, 2003.
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Editor Notes:
1. Trademark notices: DPP is a trademark of Catalyst Semiconductor.
I2C is a registered trademark of Philips Corporation. SPI is a trademark
of Motorola, Inc. Microwire is a trademark of National Semiconductor.
2. Electronic images are available at www.catalyst-semiconductor.com/editor.
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