ANCHORCH1PS
`
`Media Contact:
`Betty Matkowski
`619-613-7904
`bettymr&anchorchips.com (cid:9)
`
`Corporate Contact:
`Allyn Pon
`619-613-7900
`allyn@anchorchips.corn
`
`Anchor Chips Announces Software-Configurable
`USB Chip Family for
`High-Speed Peripheral Equipment
`
`EZ-USB 1m Product Family Significantly Reduces the Cost and Complexity of
`Implementing USB Designs while Eliminating Design Risks
`
`San Diego, CA — February 17, 1998 — Anchor Chips Incorporated, a developer of bus
`
`interface chips, today introduced a Universal Serial Bus (USB) product family that
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`significantly reduces the cost and complexity of developing high-speed USB peripheral
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`equipment. Anchor Chips' new product family, called EZ-USBTM, consists of highly
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`integrated, single-chip solutions that incorporate an enhanced 8051 processor; 4, 8 or 16
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`Kbytes of RAM; an intelligent USB core; and high-performance I/Os. The high-
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`performance feature set in the EZ-USB chip family provides for the first time an avenue
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`for soft, downloadable configuration and decreases the number of components required to
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`implement USB.
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`"USB designs are difficult to implement, especially in high-performance peripherals,"
`
`said Pete Fowler, Anchor Chips' Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. "As
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`new products roll out there are numerous uncertainties associated with USB. Our goal
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`was to reduce the complexity of implementing USB, while still providing the peripheral
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`manufacturer with a design avenue that removes risks and product problems during the
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`early phases of USB. Additionally, we wanted to take advantage of USB's significant
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`increase in data bandwidth as well as apply a level of integration to USB that would result
`
`Anchor Chips Incorporated • 12396 World Trade Drive, M/S 212 • San Diego, CA 92128 • Tel: (619) 613-7900 • Fax: (619) 676-6896 • www.anchorchips.corn
`Exhibit 2055 - Page 01 of 05
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`-more-
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 01 of 05
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`(cid:9)
`(cid:9)
`(cid:9)
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`Anchor Chips Announces USB Chip Family for High-speed Peripherals
`page 2
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`in the lowest system cost for customers. Our EZ-USB solution accomplishes these
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`goals."
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`EZ-USB chips provide engineers with significant performance advantages over existing
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`USB solutions. By taking advantage of the double-buffer capability in the integrated 2
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`Kbyte FIFO, EZ-USB chips can support a 1024 isochronous packet within a single USB
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`frame. EZ-USB chips can also support an effective data transfer rate through the data bus
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`of over 2 Mbytes per second.
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`Anchor Chips' EZ-USB chips are the first devices to have an enhanced 8051 core and an
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`internal RAM architecture. The enhanced 8051 core provides performance that is five
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`times faster than standard 8051 processors. This increase in performance is achieved by
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`doubling the 8051's clock rate from 12 MHz to 24 MHz while generally reducing the
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`number of clocks per cycle from 12 to 4. The enhanced 8051 maintains software
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`compatibility with the original 8051 so that engineers can use the same familiar 8051
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`development tools.
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`The EZ-USB chips' integrated RAM allows the 8051 program and data memory to reside
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`on-chip. This capability eliminates the need for external memory and makes it much
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`easier and more flexible to implement USB designs. With EZ-USB chips, firmware code
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`is downloaded from the PC's hard drive. This function allows for quick design changes
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`in the firmware and the driver code and enables peripheral designers to easily make
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`updates and changes.
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`The EZ-USB architecture is a very cost-effective and efficient design solution. It
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`performs low-level USB tasks in hardware not firmware. The intelligent USB core that is
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`incorporated into EZ-USB chips off loads the enhanced 8051 core by as much as 90%.
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`Therefore, only 10% of the 8051 processing power is dedicated to the USB protocol,
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`leaving 90% of the 8051 to handle peripheral functions. Since the firmware code is more
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`efficient, USB software development time is also reduced, allowing engineers to devote
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`-more-
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 02 of 05
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 02 of 05
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`Anchor Chips Announces USE Chip Family for High-speed Peripherals
`page 3
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`more time to programming the peripheral firmware. EZ-USB chip architecture also
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`decreases the amount of memory needed for firmware, which dramatically reduces board
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`density and system costs.
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`EZ-USB chips support more endpoints and provide more endpoint buffer memory than
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`any other USB device. These chips support up to 16-endpoint pairs. This large number
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`of endpoints provides engineers with a significant amount of flexibility when
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`implementing USB designs. The chips also support the USB maximum packet length for
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`isochronous data (1024 bytes) in a single USB frame.
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`Anchor Chips' EZ-USB product family is specifically designed for high-speed
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`peripherals that can use the full-rated bandwidth of 12 Mbps. The chips can be designed
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`into a number of peripheral equipment applications such as POTS modems, digital still
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`cameras, ISDN modems, cable modems, xDSL modems, digital video cameras, printers,
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`security systems, biomedical equipment and scanners. Also, all EZ-USB family members
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`use less than one square inch of board space. This makes them ideal solutions for very
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`small peripheral equipment, such as hand scanners.
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`Product Pricing and Availability
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`The EZ-USB product family consists of eight chips. All of the chips incorporate the
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`EZ-USB silicon architecture with varying amounts of RAM and other I/O features, which
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`are shown in the following chart.
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`-more-
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 03 of 05
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 03 of 05
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`

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`Anchor Chips Announces USB Chip Family for High-speed Peripherals
`page 4
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`Part
`Number
`AN2121SC
`
`Package
`Type
`44 PQFP
`
`RAM
`Size
`4K
`
`I/O Rate
`Bytes/Sec
`600K
`
`# Prog
`I/Os
`16
`
`8-bit
`Databus
`NO
`
`ISO
`Support
`YES
`
`AN2125SC
`
`44 PQFP
`
`AN2126SC
`
`44 PQFP
`
`AN2131SC
`
`44 PQFP
`
`AN2135SC
`
`44 PQFP
`
`AN2136SC
`
`44 PQFP
`
`AN2131QC
`
`80 PQFP
`
`4K
`
`4K
`
`8K
`
`8K
`
`8K
`
`8K
`
`AN2141QC
`
`80 PQFP
`
`16K
`
`2M
`
`2M
`
`8
`
`8
`
`YES
`
`YES
`
`600K
`
`16
`
`NO
`
`YES
`
`YES
`
`2M
`
`2M
`
`2M
`
`2M
`
`8
`
`8
`
`24
`
`24
`
`YES
`
`NO
`
`YES
`
`YES
`
`NO
`
`YES+Addr YES
`
`YES+Addr YES
`
`Price
`10 K
`$5.46
`
`$5.96
`
`$5.57
`
`$6.47
`
`$7.31
`
`$6.58
`
`$7.71
`
`$8.83
`
`All members of Anchor Chips' EZ-USB family are software compatible. Designers can
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`upgrade or change an EZ-USB chip to support different RAM or I/O performance while
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`still using the same board layout and software. For high-volume applications, the
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`company offers software-compatible ROM versions of the chips. For pricing and
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`availability on the ROM versions, please contact the factory.
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`EZ-USB XceleratorTM Development Kit
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`Anchor Chips has a very comprehensive set of USB tools in its development kit for the
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`EZ-USB product family. With advanced software utilities, the EZ-USB Xcelerator
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`development kit supplies design tools that accelerate firmware and device driver
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`development for EZ-USB chips. The kit contains a development board, Keil Software
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`8051 compiler, assembler, and debugger; a general-purpose USB Windows device driver;
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`sample firmware/driver code; a technical reference manual; a USB Control Panel; and a
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`EZ-USB 8051 firmware library and firmware frameworks. The USB Control Panel
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`allows finuware developers to test their firmware without completing custom Windows
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`drivers. Therefore, peripheral designers can develop firmware and drivers in parallel.
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`With the EZ-USB firmware library, peripheral developers can link a series of function
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`-more-
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 04 of 05
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 04 of 05
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`

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`Anchor Chips Announces USB Chip Family for High-speed Peripherals
`page 5
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`calls to quickly develop their peripheral function. The Xcelerator development kit is
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`available today and is priced at $495.
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`Established in 1996, Anchor Chips designs and markets integrated, system-level
`
`semiconductor solutions that simplify interfacing to emerging bus standards. The
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`company's innovative Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus and Universal Serial
`
`Bus (USB) chips virtually eliminate the complexities of today's modern bus interface
`
`designs. Based in San Diego, CA, Anchor Chips can be reached at 619-613-7900 or
`
`www.anchorchips.com.
`
`###
`
`EZ-USB is a trademark of Anchor Chips Incorporated.
`Xcelerator is a trademark of Anchor Chips Incorporated
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 05 of 05
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`Exhibit 2055 - Page 05 of 05
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