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IXYS Announces New Family of Micro-Power Hall-Effect Switches

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

IXYS Corporation (NASDAQ:SYXI) announced today that its Micronix division has introduced a new family of low cost micro-power Hall-effect switches. The new MX887P, MX887D, and MX887U are designed as reed switch replacements for a wide variety of commercial, industrial, and automotive applications. These micro-power Hall-effect switches feature ultra low offset canceling amplifiers for sensitive, accurate and stable switch points, immunity to mechanical stress, and solid state reliability.

The MX887 family has a wide input operating voltage range of 2.5 to 5.5 volts that is ideal for battery powered applications due to special circuitry enabling single digit micro-amp operating currents. The on-chip power management circuitry reduces the effective average operating current to just 5 microA at 3 volts, making it among the lowest power devices in the industry. The switch output is activated with omnipolar magnetic fields with as little as +/- 60 gauss, providing excellent sensitivity and enabling the use of low-cost magnets. Three simple digital output interface options are available: the MX887P configured with a CMOS push-pull output, the MX887D with an nMOS open drain pull-down output, and the MX887U with a pMOS open drain pull-up output. All MX887 switches are available in lead-free, TSOT-23, 3-lead, RoHS compliant packages.

These integrated circuits can be used to sense magnetic fields and sense currents and thus can be used to develop low cost current sensors in power management circuits. The low power consumption make them ideal for cell phones, PDA's laptop computers security systems and appliances for detection and activation, especially for moving lids, doors or covers.

"Micronix has spent the past several years researching and developing circuitry associated with Hall devices," says Micronix's General Manager and Vice President, Bob DeCaro. "We are in the process of developing a comprehensive line of magnetic and current sensing devices. The MX887 family is our first product as a result of this effort and we expect to be introducing a line of more sophisticated Hall-effect products in the near future."

The price levels associated with the MX887 are compatible with the cost-sensitive manufacturing requirements of high volume, handheld consumer devices, with a standard lead time of 16 weeks or less.

Micronix, a leader in the design of high-performance analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, has produced over 400 application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application specific standard products (ASSPs) for the display, communications, consumer, and medical markets. Micronix is a subsidiary company of IXYS Corporation, a leading supplier of higher power semiconductors and modules for the global power market. Additional information about Micronix and IXYS can be found at www.claremicronix.com and www.ixys.com.

Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including the price, performance, ruggedness, lead time and suitability of products for various applications, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of IXYS to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2005. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements.

Source: Business Wire

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