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News Article September 17, 2001

Catalyst Semiconductor Pushes EEPROM Technology for Mixed-Signal ICs with New Supervisory Circuit

( September 17, 2001 ) - Catalyst Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CATS) today announced the expansion of its Analog EEPROM (AE2 ™) mixed-signal product strategy with the availability of its CAT116x Microprocessor Supervisory Circuits with Serial 16-Kbit EEPROM memory. The three-member family features versions with dual polarity reset outputs, manual reset capability and watchdog capability. Five reset voltage threshold options support 5-volt, 3.3-volt and 3-volt powered systems. The 16-Kbit EEPROM uses an I2C™ interface and features hardware write protection.

"The combined market for medium density serial EEPROM and discrete supervisory circuits exceeded $250 million1 last year," said Catalyst Semiconductor Director of Marketing, David Gillooly. "The low-cost, multi-function CAT116x family simplifies embedded system design and is an example of the added-value EEPROM memory capability gives traditional analog circuits. In volume, we expect the CAT116x family will be lower in cost than present two circuit solutions. In the future, Catalyst EEPROM technology will be used in our power management devices, such as low dropout voltage regulators, PWM controllers and DC-DC converters for enhanced performance and greater manufacturing flexibility through on-chip programmability."

I2C Interfaced EEPROM Memory Included
Each device has a 400kHz, I2C™ compatible memory interface to the on-chip 16-Kbit EEPROM memory. A hardware write protection signal on the WP pin places the entire memory array into a READ only mode. In addition, whenever the power supply falls below the reset threshold or until the power supply voltage is above the reset threshold during power up, a supply lockout circuit inhibits writes to memory. Both features provide a high degree of data integrity.

Watchdog Timer Restarts "Stuck" Systems
The Catalyst CAT1161 and CAT1163 feature increased system-monitoring capability. Even with the correct power supply voltage, a system can become locked in an unwanted state. A system can become frozen or "stuck" in a non-operating state when hardware fails or software malfunctions. For such cases, the watchdog circuit on the CAT1161 and CAT1163 will detect when a system has failed and issue a system-reset signal. A watchdog circuit, coupled with error recovery software code, can prevent annoying and potentially dangerous system failures.

The CAT1161 and CAT1163 devices integrate a 1.6-second watchdog timer on-chip. The timer monitors a signal for activity. Any activity on the monitored pin will cause the timer to restart its 1.6-second count. If no activity is detected on a monitored signal during the watchdog period, the watchdog timer "times-out" and the reset signals become active.

The CAT1161 watchdog timer monitors the Serial/Data Address (SDA) line internally, thus eliminating an external PC board trace. For maximum application flexibility, the CAT1163 has a watchdog input (WDI) pin for monitoring any signal. The low-cost CAT1162 does not have watchdog capability.

Protect Systems from Lost Power and Brownouts
The CAT1161/2/3 devices detect power-up, power-down and brownout power states. Whenever the supply voltage is below the reset threshold, reset signals become active. Reset signals remain valid for power supply voltages as low as 1 volt. During power-up or after a brownout condition, the reset signals remain active for a minimum of 130 milliseconds and a maximum of 270 milliseconds. This allows the system to stabilize before the controller or ASIC is allowed to restart.

Unlike simple supervisory circuits, each Catalyst device has both an active high and an active low reset pin. In addition, the reset pins can serve as manual reset inputs for a mechanical switch. A wide selection of microcontrollers from Philips, Intel, Motorola, Hitachi and Microchip are supported.

Packaging, Price and Availability
To support 3-volt, 3.3-volt and 5-volt powered systems, each CAT1161/2/3 has five reset threshold voltage options ranging from 2.55 volts to 4.5 volts. Package options include the 8-pin SO and 8-pin DIP. Commercial and industrial operating temperature range devices are available. Samples and production quantities are available now.

Supervisory Circuits and Applications
Power supply supervisors monitor voltages to insure the system microprocessor or embedded microcontroller have sufficient supply voltage for operation. If the supply voltages are not adequate, a system reset is issued. Low power supply voltages can cause unreliable operation, halt the processor, or in severe cases allow the system controller to issue improper commands.

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), computers, controllers, automotive systems, "smart" instruments, and mobile electronic systems such as cellular phones, pagers, portable computers and data terminals are potential applications for the CAT116x supervisory circuits with EEPROM memory.

Editor Notes:
1. Market figures based on data from Selantek, Dataquest and Company estimates.
2. Product images and high-resolution electronic file images are available at www.catalyst-semiconductor/editors. For assistance contact Cari Pangelinan, Catalyst Semiconductor, at 408.542.1029 or via email at cari.pangelinan@catsemi.com.
3. Product data sheets are available on the web at www.catalyst-semiconductor.com.
4. In AE2 the "2" is a superscript. In I2C, the "2" is a superscript.

Trademark Notice:
AE2 is a trademark of Catalyst Semiconductor
I2C is a trademark of Philips.

About Catalyst Semiconductor

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 ISO 9001 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, 2002, and to the reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended July 31, 2002, October 31, 2002, and January 31, 2003