Exar Launches Industry's Fastest Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART)...

Exar Launches Industry's Fastest Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
(UART) Series With USB 2.0 Compliant Bus Interface

Single, Dual, and Quad-Channel UARTs with Industry's Smallest Package Choices,
plus Optimized Software Drivers Deliver Superior Design Options

FREMONT, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Exar Corporation (Nasdaq:
EXAR), announced the industry's fastest Full-Speed USB UART with up to 12Mbps
serial data rate. The series is composed of three devices which is compliant
to the USB 2.0 specification. The XR21V1410/V1412/V1414 have differentiated
features which include the smallest packaging options, optimized software
drivers, and support large FIFO sizes delivering flexible and proven design
options to system architects.

"The series of devices offer the lowest Bill of Materials (BOM) costs, minimal
system overhead and are designed in space saving packages that are less than
half the size of competitive solutions," said Levent Ozcolak, vice president,
Interface Product Line. "With hardware and software tool kits readily
available, system architects can quickly design in these devices to meet
rapidly changing time-to-market requirements."

According to leading market research firm InStat, the USB interface is the
most successful interface ever with over three billion devices shipped in 2008
alone. It has been broadly adopted across consumer electronics, communications
and automotive devices.

The XR21V1410/V1412/V1414 series targets a large cross-section of embedded and
consumer applications. Examples of embedded applications are gaming systems,
ATM machines, industrial automation systems amongst others. For consumer
applications, the series is ideal for smart phones, Personal Digital
Assistants (PDAs), GPS systems, DVD players/recorders and gaming systems and
other portable applications.

"Adding enhanced capabilities to our market-leading UART portfolio of 8-bit,
PCI, I2C/SPI, VLIO, and wireless UARTs, this new series of USB compliant
solutions immediately opens new opportunities to support our customers' next
generation applications," said Rakesh Bhatia, senior manager, strategic
marketing, Interface Products Line. "In addition, when added to Exar's
serial transceiver and power management products we can offer a complete and
optimized solution for serial communications designs."

Series Details

The XR21V1410, XR21V1412, and XR21V1414 have a USB slave interface, which is
compliant with Full-Speed USB 2.0 specification. All devices in the series
support USB suspend, resume and remote wakeup operations. All the devices
share a common set of features including large FIFO sizes of 128-byte TX and
384-byte RX that optimize overall data throughput, automatic hardware (RTS/CTS
or DTR/DSR) flow control, automatic software (Xon/Xoff) flow control, and
multi-drop mode with auto half-duplex transceiver control. In addition, none
of the devices require an external crystal/oscillator which saves on board
real estate. These devices also have Sleep and PowerSave modes to minimize
power consumption. Software drivers are available for Windows 2000, XP, Vista,
and CE, as well as Mac and Linux. These devices operate from a single 2.97 to
3.63 volt power supply with the core operating at 1.2V to minimize overall
power consumption.

Interface Products

Exar has one of the broadest portfolios of high-performance interface
solutions including UARTs, serial transceivers -- RS-232, RS-485, and
multi-protocol -- the industry-first wireless UART chipset solution, as well
as, integrated UART/transceiver combinations. For chip-to-chip or
system-to-system connections, Exar's single and multi-channel interface ICs
provides immediate competitive advantages to designers: low power, reduction
in board space requirements, increased bandwidth capacity, and enhanced
product features. Interface devices are found practically everywhere including
point-of-sale (POS) terminals, digital televisions, industrial automation
equipment, handheld devices, and networking environments.

Tools and Support

Evaluation boards, reference designs, and software drivers are available. With
the availability of these tools and Exar's application support line:
uarttechsupport@exar.com, UART customers can accelerate implementation by
eliminating driver development, testing and diagnostic procedures.

Prices, Packages, Availability and Additional Information

Samples of the XR21V1410 are available now in a 16-pin QFN at 2.97V-3.63V
operation over the industrial temperature range. In 1k quantities the
XR21V1410 is priced at $1.80. Additional information on this product can be
found at XR21V1410. Samples of the XR21V1412 are available now in a 32-pin
QFN at 2.97V-3.63V operation over the industrial temperature range. In 1k
quantities the XR21V1412 is priced at $3.10. Additional information on this
product can be found at XR21V1412. Samples of the XR21V1414 are available now
in a 48-pin TQFP at 2.97V-3.63V operation over the industrial temperature
range. In 1k quantities the XR21V1414 is priced at $5.80. Additional
information on this product can be found at XR21V1414. Additional information
on other Interface products can be found at Interface Products.

About Exar

Exar Corporation delivers highly differentiated silicon, software and
subsystem solutions for industrial, datacom and storage applications. For
nearly 40 years, Exar's comprehensive knowledge of end-user markets along with
the underlying analog, mixed signal and digital technology has enabled
innovative solutions that meet the needs of the evolving connected world.
Exar's product portfolio includes power management and interface components,
communications products, storage optimization solutions, network security and
applied service processors. Exar has locations worldwide providing real-time
customer support to drive rapid product development. For more information
about Exar, visit: http://www.exar.com

SOURCE Exar Corporation

Greg Kaufman, Marketing Communications of Exar Corporation, +1-510-668-7000