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26th March 2003

National Semiconductor introduces new family of mobile handset circuits that are the first to integrate CDMA PLL and VCO functions on a single chip

New design reduces board footprint by 67 percent over discrete PLL + VCO circuits
March 24, 2003 - Demonstrating its leadership in RF integrated circuit technology, National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today announced the world's first family of integrated circuits that combine PLL and VCO functions in a single chip optimized for CDMA mobile handsets. By integrating the phase locked loop (PLL) and voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) functions into a single frequency synthesizer circuit, National's design reduces the board space required by 67 percent over designs that use discrete PLL and VCO circuits.

"As mobile handsets continue to shrink in size while adding more features, board space or "footprint" of circuit elements becomes a more critical design factor," said William Weiss, Wireless Communications Marketing Manager. "National Semiconductor's integration of different RF circuit blocks enables handset manufacturers to meet the ever-increasing demand for more functionality in a smaller form factor."

The first four members of National's PLLatinumT Integrated PLL + VCO family are

1. LMX2502 for PCS-band CDMA handsets and data systems,
2. LMX2512 for cellular-band CDMA handsets and data systems,
3. LMX2522 for PCS-band CDMA handsets containing global positioning system capability, and
4. LMX2532 for cellular-band CDMA handsets containing global positioning system capability.

All four are available now. A fifth member of the family currently shipping in pre-production volume, the LMX2505, is the world's first integrated dual-band PLL and VCO for PDC handsets. The LMX2505 will be in in full production in April 2003, followed by additional integrated PLL and VCO products that meet other worldwide mobile handset standards.

Several major handset manufacturers already have designed members of the LMX25xx family into mobile handsets to be brought to market in 2003, attributing their choice to the 67 percent savings in printed circuit board space. This opens up critically needed board space for other functions in their latest mobile handsets, allowing them to include advanced differentiating features such as an integrated camera, MP3 player, Bluetooth, or other additional features.

All of National's integrated PLL + VCO family are high performance, highly integrated frequency synthesizer systems on a chip that elevate PLL technology to a new level by combining the PLL, VCO and loop filter functions into a single circuit that meets the rigorous RF specifications required by CDMA and PDC mobile handsets.

The LMX25xx family provides all the features of National's PLLatinum PLL technology to generate high quality local oscillator signals for mobile handset radio transceivers. They feature low phase noise of -138 dBc/Hz at 1.25 MHz offset from 1.6 GHz, and -139 dBc at 900 kHz offset from 1 GHz. They also feature fast lock time of 600 microseconds, low spurs, 2.7 to 3.3-volt operation, and low power consumption, all in a small 5 mm x 5 mm x 0.75 mm 28-pin leadless leadframe package (LLP).

Pricing and Availability
The LMX2502 and LMX2512 are available now, priced at $2.66 per unit in 1000 unit quantities. The LMX2522 and LMX2532 are available now priced at $3.19 per unit in 1000 unit quantities.