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Marvell Introduces the Most Powerful System Controllers for Next Generation Storage and Networking Applications

Posted on: Monday, 29 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2003--

Discovery(TM) III System Controller Delivers Unprecedented

Performance and Integration, Receiving Broad Industry Support

From IBM, Motorola and PMC-Sierra

Marvell(R) (Nasdaq:MRVL), a technology leader in the development of extreme broadband communications and storage solutions, today announced the industry's fastest system controller architecture for MIPS(R) and PowerPC(R) processor-based systems. Building upon Marvell's industry-standard Discovery(TM) platform, the new Discovery III devices are optimally designed for a broad range of applications, from sophisticated routers, switches and wireless base stations to high-volume storage and laser printer applications. These innovative, feature-rich devices have received support from industry's leading CPU vendors such as IBM(R) (NYSE:IBM), Motorola(R) (NYSE:MOT) and PMC-Sierra(TM) (Nasdaq:PMCS).

The Discovery III family is the industry's first to support 200 MHz interface for next generation high performance PowerPC and MIPS CPUs. The six devices in the Discovery III family offer a rich feature mix incorporating a 100 Gbps non-blocking crossbar architecture, advanced communications peripherals and optimized interfaces, setting new technology benchmarks for performance and integration. Additionally, the Discovery III integrates RAID engines to accelerate next generation storage applications.

"Since its launch in December 2000, the Discovery family of system controllers has been established as the market leader with multiple design wins," said Balaji Baktha, Marvell's General Manager for the Embedded and Emerging Products Business Unit. "The Marvell Discovery III family offers multiple devices with a wide range of features that enable high performance systems as well as cost effective high-volume applications."

"IBM PowerPC embedded microprocessors offer superior performance, scalability, integration and power efficiency for demanding applications," said Lisa Su, Director of Power PC and Emerging Products, IBM Microelectronics. "Marvell's new Discovery III system controller combined with IBM's PowerPC 750GX microprocessor offers embedded system designers a high-performance solution for demanding next-generation applications."

"We are excited about the availability of Marvell's new Discovery III development system because it fully leverages the SMP capabilities of our MPC7455/57 PowerPC processors and MPX bus protocols to speed up overall system performance," said Glenn Beck, Marketing Manager for Motorola's Computing Platforms Division. "Marvell and Motorola have a long history of delivering complementary solutions that benefit our respective customers. The innovative architecture of Discovery III enables system designers to develop cutting-edge solutions for next-generation applications based on Motorola's high-performance PowerPC processors."

"Marvell's new Discovery III system controller offers a level of performance and integration ideal for building high-performance MIPS-based(TM) subsystems," said Tom Riordan, Vice President and General Manager of PMC-Sierra's Microprocessor Products Division. "When paired with PMC-Sierra's powerful single or dual 1 GHz RM9000 family processors or the RM5200(TM) and RM7000(TM) family processors, the market now has a new best-of-breed solution with leading edge, no compromise performance."

Comprehensive Development Tools

Marvell offers complete development platforms for the Discovery III devices, enabling customers to start system development without waiting for their own hardware. Development platforms are available for popular MIPS and PowerPC processors including IBM750GX, Motorola MPC7457 and PMC Sierra RM9000. Complete reference design collateral including software drivers, board support package for VxWorks 5.5 and schematics are provided to accelerate customer development.

Marvell Discovery System Controllers

Marvell Discovery product family features the most widely adopted system and communication controllers in the industry. The Discovery III system controller integrates several I/O peripherals on-chip, including Gigabit Ethernet, PCI-X bridges, storage functions and DDR memory interface. The Discovery III is software compatible with the existing Marvell system controllers preserving customer software investments while accelerating development cycles.

About Marvell

Marvell (Nasdaq:MRVL) is the leading global semiconductor provider of complete broadband communications and storage solutions. The Company's diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless, and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure, including enterprise, metro, home, and storage networking. As used in this release, the terms "Company" and "Marvell" refer to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries, including Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. (MSI), Marvell Asia Pte Ltd. (MAPL), Marvell Japan K.K., Marvell Taiwan Ltd., Marvell International Ltd. (MIL), Marvell U.K. Limited, Marvell Semiconductor Israel Ltd. (MSIL), RADLAN Computer Communications Ltd. and SysKonnect GmbH. MSI is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and designs, develops and markets products on behalf of MIL and MAPL. MSI may be contacted at 408-222-2500 or at www.marvell.com.

Safe Harbor Statement of Marvell Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This release contains forward-looking statements based on projections and assumptions about our products and our markets. Words such as "anticipates,""expects,""intends,""plans,""believes,""seeks,""estimates,""may,""will,""should,""continue," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Statements that refer to, or are based on projections, uncertain events or assumptions also identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in these statements. Some risks and uncertainties that may cause the statements in this release to differ materially from actual results include, but are not limited to, the timing, cost and successful completion of development and volume production, end-customer qualification and adoption, and the timing, pricing, rescheduling, or cancellation of orders. For other factors that could cause Marvell's results to vary from expectations, please see the sections titled "Additional Factors That May Affect Future Results" in Marvell's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended February 1, 2003 and Marvell's subsequent reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements.

Marvell(R), the Marvell logo and Discovery(TM) are trademarks of Marvell. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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