Cypress and SiGe Semiconductor To Collaborate on SiGe Process

Process To Bring Performance, Integration and Power Advantages to Manufacturers of Wireless and Broadband Communications Equipment

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE: CY) and SiGe Semiconductor today announced that they have signed an agreement to collaborate on an advanced Silicon Germanium (SiGe) process.

Under the agreement, the companies will merge SiGe Semiconductor s RF process and device modeling expertise with Cypress leading edge BiCMOS and manufacturing capabilities to bring performance, integration and power advantages to manufacturers of wireless and broadband communications equipment. The companies expect to deliver production-ready SiGe processes during the first quarter of 2002.

"Developing a SiGe process internally strengthens our position in the communications markets, as the technology is uniquely capable of meeting the growing expectations of this market," said Chris Seams, Cypress s Vice President Technology Development & Wafer Manufacturing. "SiGe Semiconductor is an ideal partner, because their substantial experience in silicon germanium processes enables us to quickly and effectively bring the technology on line and provide superior performance products to our customers."

SiGe processes are gaining importance with wireless and broadband equipment, as the expectations for size, performance and power consumption exceed what can cost-effectively be achieved in silicon-based CMOS. The technology dramatically reduces power consumption to extend the battery life in handheld devices; improves phase noise to increase performance, data rates, transmission range, and stability over a broad temperature range; and allows more circuitry to be integrated on a single die, reducing the number of external components and associated board space.

"Cypress advanced manufacturing platforms and expertise in yield management provide the perfect complement to our standard SiGe processes," said Jim Derbyshire, president and CEO, SiGe Semiconductor. "We see a huge opportunity to build on this relationship, and hope to continue working with Cypress to extend the benefits of SiGe to new technologies and other markets."

About Cypress Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE: CY) is "Driving the Communications Revolution"* with high-performance integrated circuits for network infrastructure and access equipment. Leveraging its process and system-level expertise, the company designs and manufactures solutions targeted across wireless and wireline communications. Cypress supports a wide range of industry standards, such as SONET (OC-48 and above), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), InfiniBand* and Gigabit Ethernet. The company s communication s product lines include programmable high-speed physical layer devices (PHYs), wirespeed network search engines (NSEs) and network coprocessors (NCPs), and datapath switching elements (DSEs). Cypress is also the industry s leader in communications timing solutions, networking-optimized communications memories and personal connectivity solutions, such as USB and Bluetooth.

Cypress is a leader in pure optical and optoelectronic technologies designed to push network transmissions to higher performance levels and to satisfy the increasing demand for network bandwidth. With a focus on emerging communications applications, cypress aims to become the preferred silicon supplier for network infrastructure solutions and for every network data stream to pass through at least one Cypress IC.

Cypress employs 4,000 people worldwide. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CY. More information about Cypress is accessible on the Web at http://www.cypress.com.

About SiGe Semiconductor Inc. SiGe Semiconductor is leading the development of radio frequency and mixed-signal integrated circuits for next-generation broadband cable and wireless devices. Using advanced silicon germanium technology, the company delivers high-performance, low-power and low-cost cable tuners and power amplifiers to customers designing system-level products for cable and terrestrial access, Bluetooth, 802.11a and 802.11b markets. For more information, please visit www.sige.com.

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"Driving the Communications Revolution" is a trademark of Cypress Semiconductor.