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MICRO LINEAR SELECTS JAZZ SEMICONDUCTOR AS FOUNDRY PARTNER FOR
NEXT GENERATION PHS TRANSCEIVER
Jazz Semiconductor's Advanced SiGe BiCMOS Technology and Design
Platform Leveraged to Create
Highly Integrated Single Chip 1900MHz Solution
SAN JOSE, Calif. and NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., April 12, 2005
-- Micro Linear (Nasdaq: MLIN), a developer of integrated circuit
(IC) solutions for the wireless communications market, today announced
the selection of Jazz Semiconductor as its foundry partner for its
ML1900 Personal Handyphone System (PHS) Transceiver. Targeted at
the growing China wireless market, Micro Linear believes the ML1900
is the most highly integrated PHS transceiver available. Operating
in the 1.9GHz PHS band, the ML1900 utilizes the Jazz 0.35µm
silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS platform (SBC35) to integrate the
receiver, transmitter, synthesizer and power amplifier functions
in a single chip solution and is available in production volumes.
The Jazz SBC35 platform supports the feature set that allowed Micro
Linear to integrate various functions including receive and transmit
chains as well as the synthesizer and the power amplifier. Using
the 0.35µm SiGe BiCMOS, Micro Linear was able to perform low
cost CMOS integration with high-Q inductors and high-density capacitors
for compact layouts, to optimize die size and cost. Overall development
time was greatly reduced as Jazz device models accurately predicted
high frequency circuit performance.
Micro Linear's entry into China's emerging PHS market comes at
a time when the country is rapidly deploying and adopting new wireless
standards for communication. There are currently over 60 million
PHS subscribers, over 25 million of which were added in 2004 alone.
The PHS system realized early success in the Japan market as a local
wireless communication standard that can be deployed quickly and
rapidly at a lower cost than GSM or emerging 3G standards.
According to Morry Marshall, VP of strategic technologies, Semico
Research Group, "An integrated solution for the cell phone
front end, combining the power amplifier, synthesizer, and send
and receive functions, is undoubtedly an optimum solution, saving
cost and minimizing size. The Micro Linear ML1900 has achieved that,
using the Jazz Semiconductor foundry and SiGe BiCMOS process to
provide an integrated PHS transceiver, an excellent solution to
address the rapidly growing Chinese market."
"We are expanding our market with the introduction of our
ML1900 PHS product and we believe a reliable foundry partner is
key to our success in this segment," said Brent Dix, VP of
engineering at Micro Linear. "We are poised to achieve our
desired results as Jazz has proven to be an excellent partner in
our previous relationship for the ML5800, the industry's first 5.8GHz
single-chip FSK transceiver."
"With our SBC35 offering, we allow aggressive companies such
as Micro Linear to take advantage of a modular, low cost, proven
process platform to meet their time-to-market needs quickly and
cost effectively," said Paul Kempf, chief technology and marketing
officer for Jazz Semiconductor. "We believe that collaborative
partnerships between a foundry and its customers are key to the
timely, efficient launch of complex, innovative products. We look
forward to an ongoing, successful partnership with Micro Linear."
About Micro Linear
Micro Linear Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company specializing
in high data rate wireless integrated circuit solutions. These transceivers
can be used in streaming wireless applications such as cordless
phones, wireless speakers and headphones, security cameras, game
controllers, headsets and other personal electronic appliances.
Headquartered in San Jose, California, Micro Linear's products are
available through its authorized representatives and distributors
worldwide. www.microlinear.com
Micro Linear Company Contact
Michael Sera
408/428-6577
sera.michael@microlinear.com
About Jazz Semiconductor
Jazz Semiconductor is an independent wafer foundry focused primarily
on specialty CMOS process technologies, including SiGe BiCMOS and
RFCMOS for the manufacture of highly integrated analog
and mixed-signal semiconductor devices. Jazz’s executive offices
and its U.S. wafer fabrication
facilities are located in Newport Beach, California. Jazz has expanded
its wafer capacity in China
through manufacturing partnerships with Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing
Corporation and
Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co., Ltd. Contact Jazz Semiconductor at
www.jazzsemi.com
Jazz Company Contact
Jessica McNaughton
949/435-8086
jessica.mcnaughton@jazzsemi.com
Jazz Media Contact
Lauri Julian
Lages & Associates
949/453-8080
lauri@lages.com
Micro Linear Safe Harbor Statement
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
set forth in this press release are forward looking statements within
the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements may be identified by use of the terms "will",
"can", "believes", or the negative of those
terms or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those discussed in these
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to, the risks associated with the, our ability
to achieve success in the PHS market, successfully develop, introduce
and achieve market acceptance of new products in a cost-effective
and timely manner, our ability to respond to rapid technological
change and new product announcements or introductions by competitors;
and other factors that may cause the Company's business or operating
results to fluctuate in the future. Additional risks are detailed
in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year-ended January 2, 2005. Statements included in this release
are based on information known to the Company as of the date of
this release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update information
contained in this release.

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