Staccato and SMSC Collaborate to Develop Joint Reference Designs for Certified Wireless USB Market

Staccato Communications and SMSC (NASDAQ:SMSC) announced a jointeffort to deliver two reference designs for the Certified Wireless USBmarket. This partnership demonstrates the interoperability of SMSC'shigh-performance USB hub products, including the recently announcedSMSC USB MultiSwitch(TM) Hub (USB2524), with Staccato's single-chipall-CMOS Ripcord(TM) Wireless USB Device Wire Adapter solution. Thetwo companies are developing reference designs that will offer fullturn-key, pre-certified design kits including hardware, software,design files and documentation. These kits will facilitate the designimplementation of SMSC and Staccato's small form factor and highlyconfigurable solutions, enabling product developers to reduce overalltime-to-market, cost and risk associated with designing CertifiedWireless USB products while delivering industry-first features.

The two reference designs, based on Certified Wireless USB underdevelopment by Staccato and SMSC are:

-- 4-port Wireless USB Switching Hub - utilizing SMSC's USB2524 USB MultiSwitch Hub and Staccato's single-chip, all-CMOS Ripcord SC3502P Wireless USB Device Wire Adapter solution, the Wireless USB Switching Hub enables peripheral sharing capability in a Device Wire Adaptor and provides both wired and wireless USB connectivity in a multi-host environment.

-- 7-port Wireless USB Hub - utilizing SMSC's USB2507 USB Hi-Speed 7-Port Hub and Staccato's single-chip, all-CMOS Ripcord SC3502P Wireless USB Device Wire Adapter solution, the 7-port Wireless USB Hub delivers SMSC's MultiTRAK(TM) hub technology built into its USB2507 from the wired USB world to a Wireless USB DWA.

"We are pleased to be working with an industry leader like SMSC tooffer customers Certified Wireless USB-based reference designs to meetcritical product development needs. Our interoperability with SMSC'snew USB MultiSwitch Hub, in particular, demonstrates our focus onpartnering with world-class companies to deliver innovative devices,"said Mark Bowles, Co-founder and Vice President of BusinessDevelopment and Corporate Marketing for Staccato Communications."These reference designs allow our customers to take the guessworkand obstacles out of the design cycle, which ultimately affords them atime-to-market advantage and fuels the continuing evolution of theCertified Wireless USB industry."

"The USB MultiSwitch Hub enables a consumer to share devicesbetween their wired and wireless enabled systems which can helpaccelerate the adoption of wireless USB," said Steve Nelson, VicePresident and General Manger of Connectivity Products at SMSC."Through our work with Staccato Communications, our collectivecustomer base profits as we develop a foundation of industry-leadingdesigns. The relationship also further demonstrates our commitment todelivering robust Certified Wireless USB products to market quickly."

Reference designs are expected to be available in the fourthquarter of calendar 2006.

About Staccato Products

Based on the WiMedia Alliance's UWB common radio platform and theCertified Wireless USB specification from the USB Implementers Forum(USB-IF), Ripcord is a single-chip, all-CMOS solution implemented in acomplete, fully integrated System-In-Package (SiP) using leading 110nmdigital CMOS process technology. Ripcord provides a complete, fullyintegrated single-chip, all-CMOS solution for the first commercialapplications of high-speed UWB at 480 Mbps based on Certified WirelessUSB. Ripcord's high level of integration minimizes design risk, lowerssystem cost and accelerates customers' time-to-market by consolidatinghardware and software components necessary to implement a commercialproduct.

Staccato's SC3502P Device Wire Adapter, based on CertifiedWireless USB, allows any existing wired USB peripheral to instantlyconnect as a Certified Wireless USB device without any modificationsto hardware or software. Staccato also offers a reference design kitfor a Wireless USB Host Wire Adapter that enables any wired USB-basedhost PC system to operate as a Certified Wireless USB Host. Allrequired hardware, software, design files and documentation areincluded for a complete end-to-end solution for a truly wirelesssystem.

About SMSC High-Speed USB Products

SMSC is a leader in providing Hi-Speed USB solutions and is wellpositioned to provide full USB solutions that include silicon,firmware, software drivers and reference designs.

SMSC's USB MultiSwitch Hub (USB2524) is the industry's first USBsolution that combines a USB Hi-Speed hub and switching functionalityin a single device. Equipped with two upstream ports and fourdownstream ports, the USB MultiSwitch Hub enables USB device sharingand switching between two USB hosts without "cable swapping."Requiring no more than standard USB hub driver support, the deviceappears as a 4-port USB hub to either USB host system and supportsstandard USB topology.

The SMSC USB2507 7-port USB hub controller is compliant with theUSB2.0 Specification and does not require firmware development. Whenconnected to a high-speed USB host, the seven downstream ports canoperate at low-speed (1.5Mb/s), full-speed (12Mb/s) or high-speed(480Mb/s). Based on SMSC MultiTRAK architecture, the USB2507 deviceprovides high performance data throughput for USB port expansion incomputing and consumer applications. As required by the USB2.0Specification, the USB2507 device is fully backward compatible withlegacy USB full-speed hosts.

About Staccato Communications

Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Staccato Communications is anUltra-Wideband (UWB) technology pioneer with applications expertise inCertified Wireless USB, Bluetooth and Internet Protocol (IP)connectivity. The fabless semiconductor company serves the personalcomputing, consumer electronics and mobile phone industries with smallform factor, single-chip, all-CMOS wireless solutions. Staccato'sWiMedia-based offerings include PHY, MAC, drivers, applicationsoftware, development kits and reference designs. For moreinformation, please visit www.staccatocommunications.com.

About SMSC

Many of the world's most successful global technology companiesrely upon SMSC as a go-to resource for semiconductor system solutionsthat span analog, digital and mixed-signal technologies. Leveragingsubstantial intellectual property, integration expertise and acomprehensive global infrastructure, SMSC solves design challenges anddelivers performance, space, cost and time-to-market advantages to itscustomers. SMSC's application focus targets key vertical marketsincluding mobile and desktop PCs, servers, consumer electronics,automotive infotainment and industrial applications. The Company hasdeveloped leadership positions in its select markets by providingapplication specific solutions such as mixed-signal PC systemcontrollers, non-PCI Ethernet, ARCNET, MOST and Hi-Speed USB.

SMSC is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York with operations inNorth America, Asia and Europe. Engineering design centers are locatedin Arizona, New York, Texas and Karlsruhe, Germany. Additionalinformation is available at www.smsc.com.

Ripcord is a trademark of Staccato Communications. SMSC is aregistered trademark, and MultiSwitch and MultiTRAK are trademarks ofStandard Microsystems Corporation. All other trademarks are theproperty of their respective owners.