Tundra Semiconductor Announces RapidIO Gen2 Program

    Tundra's New RapidIO Gen2 Solutions Dramatically Increase System
    Performance for Next Generation Wireless, Video and Military Designs

OTTAWA, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Tundra Semiconductor Corporation (TSX:TUN), a leader in System Interconnect, today announced its new RapidIO(R) Gen2 program. Backwards compatible with RapidIO Specification Rev 1.3, Tundra’s new RapidIO solutions will offer OEMs increased system performance, reduced power consumption and lower system costs when designing next generation systems.

Tundra’s RapidIO Gen2 program builds on its industry-leading portfolio of Rev 1.3 products and tools, in volume production shipments in WiMAX, HSPA, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, video and military applications today. Gen2 was developed by the RapidIO Trade Association to answer the needs of existing RapidIO customers whose future systems require increased performance and speed, including; 3G and 4G base stations, HD IPTV or high-end video conferencing. Tundra’s RapidIO Gen2 program includes a full portfolio of switches, IP and support tools that will offer new wireless broadband and high bandwidth applications even more system performance optimization capabilities, and will double the speed of current RapidIO Rev 1.3 solutions.

“RapidIO 2.0 addresses designers’ increased bandwidth requirements by doubling the speed of RapidIO Rev 1.3, increasing link speeds to 6.25 Gbaud and by offering more port choices, increasing flexibility and system level features. New products and IP will enable the deployment of next generation systems with higher processor speeds and aggregation of a larger number of processors while keeping up with real time performance needs. Tundra’s commitment to deliver RapidIO Gen2 solutions to the market further strengthens the RapidIO ecosystem,” said Tom Cox, Executive Director, RapidIO Trade Association.

“Tundra continues to demonstrate its leadership in RapidIO with our RapidIO Gen2 program. RapidIO Gen2 will enable pervasive wireless broadband 4G coverage around the world. Tundra’s RapidIO Gen2 IP for DSPs, FPGAs, Microprocessors and ASICs combined with new Gen2 switches will deliver an enhanced end user broadband experience,” said Daniel Hoste, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tundra Semiconductor. “As a founding member of the RapidIO Trade Association, and Chair of the Technical Working Group, Tundra was a key driver in the development of the RapidIO Gen2 Specification.”

With next generation DSPs and microprocessors increasing their performance capabilities and demanding speed requirements up to 6.25 Gbaud, interconnect requirements must increase to fully maximize performance of the processors. RapidIO Gen2 offers link rates from 1.25 Gbaud to 6.25 Gbaud, doubling the speed of RapidIO Rev 1.3, and port widths from x1 to x16 allowing designers to select the port data rate best suited for their application. RapidIO Gen2 continues to allow control plane and data plane traffic to be carried over one interconnect, which results in denser designs, lower overall system power consumption and lower system costs.

About Tundra

Tundra Semiconductor Corporation (TSX:TUN) supplies the world’s leading communications, computing and storage companies with System Interconnect products and design services backed by world-class customer service and technical support. Tundra’s track record of product leadership includes over a decade of bridges and switches enabling key industry standards: RapidIO(R), PCI, PCI-X, PCI Express(R), Power Architecture(TM), VME, HyperTransport(TM), Interlaken, and SPI4.2. Tundra’s products deliver high functional quality and simplified board design and layout, with specific focus on system level signal integrity. Tundra’s design services division, Silicon Logic Engineering, Inc., offers industry-leading ASIC and FPGA design services, semiconductor intellectual property and product development consulting. Tundra’s technology connects critical components in high performance embedded systems around the world. For more information, please visit www.tundra.com.

TUNDRA and the Tundra logo are registered marks of Tundra Semiconductor Corporation in Canada, the United States, the European Union and the People’s Republic of China. Design.Connect.Go. is a trademark of Tundra Semiconductor Corporation. RapidIO is a trademark of the RapidIO Trade Association, Inc. Other registered and unregistered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

(C) Copyright 2009 Tundra Semiconductor Corporation. All rights reserved. Information subject to change without notice.

SOURCE TUNDRA SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION